


Making History

by allthegoldmedals



Category: Curling RPF, Olympics RPF, Sports RPF
Genre: 2014 Winter Olympics, 2018 Winter Olympics, Canada, Canadian, Curling, Friendship, Gen, No Romance, Olympics, Team Canada, Teamwork, Through the Years, Victories
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-06
Updated: 2018-08-14
Packaged: 2019-06-06 06:25:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 56,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15188756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allthegoldmedals/pseuds/allthegoldmedals
Summary: Kaitlyn Lawes' journey to making history from 2009-2018. From juniors to two Olympics, with a worlds or two thrown in the mix. Written just because I love curling!





	1. The End of a Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> I absolutely love curling, and there's pretty much no real Curling RPF out here that's not romantic or sexual, so here's the first. Kaitlyn Lawes also deserves a little more recognition than just as Scott Moir's ex. Finally, if this gets literally zero hits, I honestly couldn't care less. I love this journey and someone here needed to recognize Kaitlyn as a history maker.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The 2009 World Junior Curling Championship was the end of the beginning of Kaitlyn Lawes' curling career, and a silver medal wasn't exactly what she was looking for.

**2009**

Losing to Eve Muirhead sucked. Canadian curlers were supposed to be the best, regardless of their age. Bronze last year wasn't the greatest, but for Kaitlyn to come back to world juniors for the second year in a row, this time in Canada even, and to lose in the final against Eve... it didn't feel great. Canada wanted gold, not silver.

Especially with that last shot. Eve had perfectly buried her second-last stone behind a mass of her own guards. Kaitlyn had a tricky shot, but it was definitely doable. It was just a normal-weight takeout around a guard to lie one buried, then it would be Eve's last stone. But Kaitlyn had missed. Not just by a little bit, but missed the rock completely.

Silver was almost worse than bronze. To finish a tournament with a loss, still fresh in your mind during the medal ceremony, felt worse than finishing with a win and being able to say that you persevered through a loss and came out on top.

She knew she was being selfish. She should be thankful to win silver! She was the second-best junior skip in the world. Some of the best juniors in Canada didn't even have a chance to compete at the worlds. The expectations were just so high. Canada expected gold every time, and anything less disappeared in history. Even a gold medal wouldn't last long in anyone's mind. Now it was the end of juniors for Kaitlyn Lawes, and left without a gold medal in two tries at worlds, she would likely become one of those junior skips who just wasn't good enough to make a name for herself in the professional curling world and be just good enough to play lead for some unknown team.

After saying a few congratulatory words to Eve and talking to some coaches, she walked into the locker room to join her teammates, clutching her silver medal sadly. When she opened the door, she saw Breanne, Jenna, and Laryssa exchanging high-fives and looking at their silver medals.

"Kaitlyn!" they exclaimed in unison as soon as they heard her enter.

"Hey, great job out there today," she told her team, "I'm sorry about that last shot. I know you girls really wanted to win."

"Don't be so hard on yourself, Kaitlyn!" Breanne said, immediately sensing her disappointment and giving her a hug. "That was a really tough shot. There's no way I could've made it. That's why I'm your lead, I guess! I'm sure Laryssa and Jenna would agree that the chances of them making that shot are pretty slim, too. That's why you're our skip! If anyone could've made that shot, it was you, and even though you didn't, don't be too upset about it."

"Yeah," Jenna agreed. "We're not upset, and you don't have to be sorry about anything. You've skipped us all the way to medalling at worlds, and I'm proud to say that I have two worlds medals because of you. You really think I could skip a Canadian juniors team to worlds? And medal, at that? Nah, I'd probably not even make nationals! Even if I did, I'd finish the round robin without a win and I'd watch you crush the competition and go off to worlds. So don't be so hard on yourself, Kaitlyn. You've done so much for me personally, and our whole team, in the last two years."

The words of her best friend on the team, her trusted third, made her smile. Her whole team was so supportive. If they had finished the round robin at worlds without a win, they would probably thank her for getting them there, even if all of Canada shamed them. In a way, Canada wasn't very stereotypically nice when it came to curling. Their country was brutal and only accepted the best, but it also made them work so much harder. It was painful and rewarding all at once.

"Thanks, girls. I guess we're all really lucky to be here. There are tons of juniors back home who didn't have the chance to make it past nationals. Remember how nervous we all were to play Rachel in the finals?"

They all recalled the stress heading into the finals of the nationals against Team Ontario. Rachel Homan was probably their biggest competition and they were all more relieved than happy to pull out a win.

"I just wanted to say good luck to all three of you girls next year," Kaitlyn told her team. "Jenn and Laryssa, the three of us will hopefully all be going pro, and we're probably not going to be on the same team, but I wish you two the best of luck and I hope we cross paths soon and often. Breanne, you're still a kid, but I know you're going to crush it in juniors."

Everyone laughed at this comment, but Breanne was touched. Kaitlyn didn't often tease them, and when she did, it was always masking something more earnest and heartfelt. She was really one caring skip. Not many teams had such a strong friendship.

"And you," Laryssa said, "are a brilliant skip and you're going to do great and I know you'll be one of the best in pros."

"Maybe you won't make it to Vancouver, but I bet we'll see you in Sochi." Jenna added confidently. "I can see it already. Kaitlyn Lawes, youngest Canadian curler ever to win a gold medal at the Olympics. What's the old man sport now?"

Kaitlyn laughed. "That's nice of you to say, Jenn, but I don't think I'm quite good enough for that yet. We all know how tough it is to get a chance to play internationally."

"Maybe you'll make the Olympics in 2018, then." Breanne said. "You'll be 29 by then. That's old! And maybe you'll make it again in 2022! 33's a very reasonable age to be curling professionally still. Hey, maybe you'll make it to another two or three Olympics after that! Maybe even four or five. You don't have to retire until you're like, fifty. You've got plenty of chances! There are still, like, eight Olympics before you turn fifty."

All of the girls laughed at Breanne's optimism, and in that moment, all of them, Kaitlyn included, believed in her ability to make it to at least one Olympic Games. Leave it to Breanne to give them a little confidence.

Several group hugs and high-fives later, Kaitlyn was the only one left in the locker room. Her team's encouraging words had temporarily made her only focus on how much she loved them all, but she still couldn't shake the disappointment from losing. It wasn't as shallow as just disappointment, though. She was worried. Mostly worried about her teammates, but also worried about herself. They had reached such high heights in juniors, but it was more likely than not that all of them would not end up as curlers in the professional world. They might end up forming teams and playing in some spiels, but Kaitlyn knew that actually making a living out of curling was probably the most difficult thing she would ever attempt. Only the very best teams had enough sponsorship and won enough cashspiels to earn them any money at all. Even the best curlers, like her idol, Jennifer Jones, had jobs outside of and unrelated to curling.

She was reaching an age where she needed to contemplate her future. She was studying nutrition in university, but that wasn't really what she was interested in. She wanted to curl, and that was all she wanted to do! Not all dreams came true, though, and she knew she would have to consider something else as a career. Jenna wanted to curl, just like her, but they were different in the sense that Jenna really had other interests and she had lots of career options. Laryssa was already considering curling only as a pastime and pursuing a career in agriculture. Breanne was young and still had time before she had to figure out her career, but she, too, had interests outside of curling.

At just 20 years old, Kaitlyn couldn't imagine a life without curling. She knew that many juniors in the past had completely left the curling world. She couldn't imagine doing that to herself. Yes, she knew she had a chance at being a professional curler for some amount of time, but being an influential curler, one who could actually call curling her life, was nearly impossible. Losing to Eve just proved that there were curlers out there better than her, which made it that much harder to really succeed.

It was the end of juniors, and the beginning of a much more challenging climb.

* * *

 Only a few months later, Kaitlyn received a call from Cathy King looking for a third. Cathy was a pretty big deal in the Canadian curling world, and it was the best offer that she had received for her first season as a pro. It took a bit of convincing to be able to go to Alberta, a whole new province, but Kaitlyn was used to travelling.

The season went by quickly. Though Cathy wasn't quite as good as she had used to be when she was younger, Kaitlyn learned a lot from the several spiels and three Grand Slams that the team competed in. They finished third in the Alberta Scotties, which meant that they wouldn't get to go to the national Scotties, but Kaitlyn was relatively pleased. Sure, they weren't nearly the best team in all of Canada, or even Alberta, but she was already winning against some of the best, some of the time. It was a start.

Still, though, she had yet to make a name for herself in the curling world. She was still Kaitlyn Lawes, two-time Canadian junior champion. She wasn't a Scotties champion, or even a provincial Scotties champion. Maybe she was expecting too much from herself, but she had a long way to go. For a good portion of the season, she was confident that she would eventually be able to succeed as a curler.

That all changed when Cathy, Raylene, and Tracy announced that they would be stepping away from the game. She should have anticipated it, but this, like the loss at juniors, left her uncertain about her future. This first season wasn't nearly good enough to put her among the best. A new quadrennial approached, and no team had chosen her for their next Olympic cycle. She just hadn't had time to prove herself as an elite curler. Truth be told, maybe she wasn't.

Once again, Kaitlyn was left alone, the next Olympic cycle about to start, without a team and with an uncertain future.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone actually read this far, thank you! If any curling fanatic like me actually read this far, I'd like to say hi and I actually can't believe there are other people who read Curling RPF! If said curling fanatic out there is actually interested in this fic, I want to say wow, thank you, and if you care, Team Jones begins in the next chapter. Once again, even if this gets literally zero hits, the rest of this story is still going up because I love this fandom and Kaitlyn deserves something, and something's definitely coming up in the next chapter!


	2. It All Started with a Phone Call

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Joining Team Jennifer Jones would change Kaitlyn's life, and she'll never forget that it all started with a phone call.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 3 hits! That is honestly more than I thought this would get, and whoever bookmarked this, I'm glad to know there's someone out there who appreciates Curling RPF and this tribute to Kaitlyn at least a little.

**2010**

After Cathy King's team stepped back from curling professionally, Kaitlyn was left alone and without a team in Edmonton, of all places. It was looking more likely than not that she would have to play in the Alberta city instead of at home. She missed Winnipeg, but it was a sacrifice she was willing to make for a chance at real success. All the teams in Manitoba and Alberta knew that she was willing to play skip or third in Winnipeg or Edmonton. Her dream would be to skip her own team in Winnipeg, but she knew the odds would be stacked against her, with so many great teams in her home town.

The day she returned home to Winnipeg at the end of the season, she was at home when her cell phone rang. The caller was an unknown number from Winnipeg.

Ordinarily, she would ignore any unknown phone calls, but there was a slim chance that it would be a team that needed a player. Almost all the teams were set for the next quadrennial, though, so it was more likely that the call was from university. She picked the phone up anyway.

"Hello, this is Kaitlyn Lawes," she said neutrally, thinking it was just going to be advertising or something else unimportant.

"Hi, Kaitlyn," a familiar female voice said.

Before the voice on the other end continued to speak, her mind already rushed with possibilities. This voice sounded familiar. It wasn't one of her professors; it was definitely someone she knew about but didn't know personally. Was it a curler? Was a curler from Winnipeg really looking for another player? What teams from Winnipeg weren't complete yet? The first team that came to her mind was the Jennifer Jones rink. They had let Cathy Overton-Clapham go and they were still looking for a third. There was no way it was Jennifer Jones. Kaitlyn didn't have much professional experience and there was no way she was a suitable replacement for the legendary Cathy O. What other teams from Winnipeg-

"This is Jennifer Jones calling," the voice continued, cutting off her train of thought.

No. There was no way Jennifer Jones was actually looking for her as her new third. Then what was she calling about?

"As you may know, I'm looking for a third for our next Olympic cycle," Jennifer said. "I know you're looking to skip or play third for a team in Winnipeg, and we curl out of the St. Vital Curling Club right in the city."

Kaitlyn didn't usually get very excited, but she was about to scream in excitement. This was an absolute dream come true, to play for possibly the best curling team in the world, right at home in Winnipeg. Luckily, she stayed as calm and professional as she could.

"Jennifer, it's an absolute honour to be speaking to you," she said carefully, keeping her emotions at bay.

Kaitlyn didn't know this, but the skip on the other end smiled just a little bit, hearing her future third's careful words. As a lawyer, she was extremely perceptive and could tell how excited Kaitlyn really was. She had picked the right girl for the job.

"I've watched you through your junior career," Jennifer told her, "and although you stayed under-the-radar last season, I made a point to watch for you in Edmonton. I think you have great potential on our team as our third."

"Thank you so much, that means so much to me," Kaitlyn replied earnestly.

"I'm pretty sure I know your answer already, but would you like to play third for me and chase the Olympics in Sochi?" the skip asked to confirm.

"That would be such an honour, Jennifer, I've admired you for so long and I would love to join your team." she replied, still staying professional and not letting her emotions get the better of her.

She was finally going to chase her dream of being a professional curler. It was going to happen. Even if she never made the Olympics, she was going to play with _Jennifer Jones_ for the next four years. That, in itself, was a dream come true.

"That's awesome, Kaitlyn." Jennifer said. "I can't wait to have you on our team. We still have to go through some logistics before we can make this official, but I'm already confident you'll be just great on our team."

"Thank you," Kaitlyn replied carefully, still not fully believing everything that had just happened.

"If you'd like," Jennifer said, "we will be practicing at the St. Vital Curling Club tomorrow morning and you can meet myself, Jill, and Dawn, and we can throw a few rocks together and discuss the future of the team. If not, I'll keep in touch with you until you can join us later in the offseason, perhaps when we make the announcement official."

"I would love to meet you tomorrow," Kaitlyn told her. "Thank you again, Jennifer. This is truly an amazing opportunity for you. I won't disappoint you, I promise."

This time, Jennifer actually laughed a little. "Don't worry, Kaitlyn, I picked you because I have faith in you. I know you won't disappoint me."

She had confidence. Normally, this would make Kaitlyn incredibly happy, to hear that her idol had confidence in her. She was happy. She was very, very happy. But she was also nervous, because she knew what Jennifer's expectations for her team were. Success was built on perfection, at least, perfection when they needed it, and her team was nothing if not successful. She hoped that she could live up to their standards.

* * *

The next day, Kaitlyn woke up early and prepared herself to meet her new team. She made sure all of her equipment was in prime condition, polished her curling shoes, changed her brush head, and headed out to the St. Vital Curling Club. The offseason was starting, so she might as well have her equipment in brand-new condition for the summer, anyway.

After saying goodbye to her mom, who wished her good luck, she left home and ran to the curling club, which was only a few kilometres away. It only took about 20 minutes for her to arrive, and she was all warmed up for stretching. She walked into the building. Since she had been there a few times for small bonspiels during juniors, she knew her way around and was able to find the rink quickly. She walked in, and found that it was completely empty, which wasn't surprising, because it was early. She didn't know what time the team was going to arrive, but she decided to stretch and maybe throw a few rocks before they arrived.

She did a few lunges to get her sliding position ready, and she walked onto the ice, ready to throw. It had only been a few minutes since she had arrived at the rink, but she was already feeling much calmer and her nerves had disappeared. This rink was going to be her home, and she liked it.

She heard footsteps behind her and turned around to see one of her favourite curlers and now teammate, Jill Officer, walk through the door. Jill immediately noticed her on the ice, and ran up to her.

"Kaitlyn! It's so nice to meet you! Welcome to the St. Vital Curling Club and welcome to the team!"

Kaitlyn smiled with excitement, seeing one of her curling idols and realizing that they were now on the same team.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Jill," she said, the teammates shaking hands. "It's an honour to be on your team."

Jill smiled and laughed a little. "You might be younger than us, Kaitlyn, but that doesn't mean you're not as good. We're not curling gods, we're just your teammates! We've seen you play spectacularly and we're thrilled that you could join us."

Hearing her words made Kaitlyn really happy. She knew that Jill was just her teammate, but she had a great admiration for her and gained some confidence from hearing their mutual admiration for each other.

"Thank you so much, that means a lot," she said honestly. "I'm not really sure what the plan for today's practice is, but I was about to throw some rocks. Is there anything I should do before Jennifer and Dawn arrive?"

"I hope you've warmed up, Kaitlyn, but I'm not the skip on this team. Jen, Dawn, and I were just going to go over our plans for the next Olympic cycle and do some drills. Now that we have you as a third, though, Jen might want to go over strategy with you. Dawn and I are probably just going to end up working out. That's life in the front end. It's the offseason, anyway, so it's not like we need to practice actually throwing rocks much. Jen might want to practice some throwing with you, since you're new to the team, but I know she has confidence in your skills."

Kaitlyn was about to express her thanks again, when Jill looked up and waved, so she turned around to see who had arrived. Walking toward them were Dawn Askin and Jennifer Jones, who smiled when they saw their new third. Even though she had been preparing herself for this moment, Kaitlyn was still a little overwhelmed. The presence of the whole team suddenly made everything feel real. She was really going to be a part of the legendary Jennifer Jones team.

"Hey Jen, hey Dawn!" Jill greeted her longtime teammates and friends. "This is Kaitlyn, our new third, although you guys obviously know that because she's a juniors legend already."

The two-time world junior medallist tried humbly to object, but the team's skip interrupted her by holding out a hand for a handshake.

"Kaitlyn, I'm so glad you could join our team." Jennifer said as the two shook hands. "I have nothing but confidence in you and I'm sure we will be able to achieve great things with you as our third."

Seeing and hearing her new skip in person touched Kaitlyn more than she could ever imagine. In that moment, she realized all the experiences and all the victories that were possible with this new team. This was one of the best, if not the best, team in women's curling, and she was somehow fortunate enough to be on it. She would never take that for granted.

"Well, team, this is Kaitlyn's first practice with us but our last practice together for a little bit, since, as you all know, the season is now officially over." Jennifer addressed the whole team. "I'd like to work with Kaitlyn for a bit on strategy and getting to know how this team runs, but I also want us to all go over our goals for the next Olympic cycle together."

"Should Dawn and I just do our usual front end drills?" Jill asked with a laugh.

"Sure, you two have to keep in shape!" the skip replied, making them groan sarcastically. "Come on, you know that sweeping is very important. I want to spend some time showing Kaitlyn how I'd like to run things, and you two need to do something."

Dawn and Jill started warming up by running, and Jennifer brought her new third to one end of the ice.

"Kaitlyn, as you know, this is our team for the next Olympic cycle." she began, and her third nodded. "Even though we're a high-profile team, I never want you to feel like you're under too much pressure. You'll realize soon that Jill, Dawn, and I aren't competitive at all, even though we play in so many spiels. I just want to make sure you're comfortable on this team, so if you ever need anything, just let us know."

Kaitlyn smiled, still nervous, but a bit more at ease. "Thanks, Jennifer."

"You can call me Jen. Now, about strategy. You were a stellar skip in juniors, so I'm not worried at all about your abilities at third. Communication between the two of us will be essential, and it will take some practice through this offseason and this upcoming season, but I know you'll fit right in. About how our team specifically runs, I'd like to go over some things like hand signals and line calls, and if you're uncertain about anything, just let me know because I want you to be as comfortable as possible on this team. Does that sound good?"

Kaitlyn looked up at her new skip and nodded, smiling. They both looked over at their front end, who were just finished warming up and stepping onto the ice.

"You know what, this will probably be easiest with the whole team helping out." Jennifer decided. "Dawn! Jill! Do you want to help go over hand signals and line calls with me and Kaitlyn?"

"Yes, of course!" Jill said eagerly, glad not to have to do boring drills.

"That sounds great," Dawn added as the other two members of their team joined them on the ice.

"We can go over line calls first," Jennifer suggested. "This is pretty simple to start. We just say where we think the rock will end up. For example, 'top four.' Just open and honest communication across the ice, that's what we do."

"And don't be afraid to speak up," Jill added. "Making mistakes is fine. Do you know how many times I've called a rock light and it turned out to be really heavy?"

"Jill is right, we all make mistakes calling line. She's also right about the fact that she often misjudges weight." Jennifer said, making everyone laugh. "But that's okay, we practice that a lot. In fact, why don't we practice right now? Kaitlyn, you can throw some rocks and Jill and Dawn can sweep them. We can all practice calling line, and it'll help you get used to this ice, too."

Kaitlyn stepped into the hack as her skip walked over to the other side of the ice and Dawn and Jill picked up their brooms. This was it. She was going to throw her first rock with her new team.

"How about we just start with some draws to the button?" the skip called from the other side of the ice. "You can do an inturn and an outturn, and then we'll work from there."

"I'm going for the inturn," Kaitlyn called back, as Jennifer moved her broom accordingly. "Can I have an inch more?"

The skip moved her broom over the slightest bit and gave a thumbs-up to her third on the other side of the ice. Kaitlyn cleaned the bottom of the rock she picked up, took a deep breath, exhaled onto her hand to warm it up, and slid back in the hack. She held her broom out for balance, gripped the rock, and released just as she slid out of the hack. Jill clicked her stopwatch and Dawn looked up at the rock and the other side of the ice. Kaitlyn crouched down, watching the rock travel smoothly down the ice.

"Top eight!" Dawn called.

Kaitlyn frowned to herself. She was looking for perfection, and so far it wasn't there.

"Hard!" she called, knowing that she would have to rely on the sweepers for this one.

Jill and Dawn immediately responded by sweeping harder for distance.

"Line's good!" the skip called as they travelled down the ice. "Go! Hard!"

Kaitlyn looked up at the two sweepers carrying her rock down the ice. The weight was looking better and better as it travelled further.

"Weight's getting better," she called.

Jennifer looked up and smiled, knowing that her new third was right. The rock passed the second hog line and she took a step back to make room for her incoming front end sweepers.

"Hard, Jill! Hard, Dawn!" she called to them, knowing that it would need some finish to travel far enough.

The two swept as hard as they could, carrying the rock to the four-foot, covering half of the button. It rested perfectly on the centre line, only inches away from a perfect draw to the button.

"Good sweep," the skip acknowledged her front end, giving them high fives as Kaitlyn walked toward them.

Jill and Dawn laughed and high-fived each other, completely out of breath. When the newest member of their team approached them, they also gave her high fives for her near-perfect shot.

"Nice throw," Jennifer said, giving her a small hug. "That was impressive, especially for your first shot on this ice!"

"Thanks, Jen," the young third replied with a smile. "Now, how about that outturn?"

"Let's try it," the skip agreed. "Jill! Dawn! We're going to do the outturn now, go sweep Kaitlyn's rock."

The two walked back to the other side of the ice slowly, where Kaitlyn was already ready to throw. She squinted, looking down to the other side of the ice that she was about to throw to.

"Is this okay?" Jennifer asked, motioning to her broom position.

"Yeah," she called back.

Looking up at Jill and Dawn in front of her, Kaitlyn once again took a deep breath, exhaled, and slid back into and out of the hack and released the rock. As soon as it was out of her hand, she saw that it was quite a good shot.

"Weight's good!" she called, causing the sweepers just to follow the rock down the ice, not sweeping.

"Clean, just clean," Jennifer called back as Dawn swept lightly and Jill looked up.

"Line's great," she called, seeing how the rock was travelling so far.

As the rock approached the house, Jennifer stepped back and gave a thumbs up to her third on the other side of the ice, telling her that it had been a good shot. Kaitlyn stood up to watch her rock curl neatly right on top of the button, sitting dead centre in the house. It couldn't have been a more perfect shot.

Jill cheered loudly for their stellar young third, and Dawn, always quieter, smiled and high-fived Kaitlyn, who was beaming with pride. She hadn't expected it to be so perfect, and when it was, it was a rewarding feeling.

"Nice shot!" her skip said to her, patting her on the back affectionately. "I think you're going to fit in just great. I was right about you, and I know you still have so much more to contribute."

"Thanks, Jen, that means a lot," Kaitlyn replied happily. "It might've just been a fluke, though. Draws aren't my greatest strength."

"Don't underestimate your own abilities," Jennifer told her, "you're better than you think. You've shown that you have spectacular draw weight control, so how about we practice some takeouts?"

"Bring it on," she replied enthusiastically.

"Alright, I have something planned." Jennifer said to her whole team, then turned back to her third. "I know you're already great with takeout weight control. We don't have to do those drills now. What I have planned is about finesse takeouts that separate the good teams from the great teams."

"I can do that," Kaitlyn said, gaining some confidence while still feeling challenged. "I think."

They both laughed as Kaitlyn headed back down to the hack with Jill and Dawn. The skip picked up some rocks of different colours and started arranging them in a complicated way in and around the house.

"What are you doing?" Jill called, turning around as her two companions still walked back, facing away from their skip.

"Just setting up a potential game scenario," Jennifer called back to her teammate. "Give me a second and get Kaitlyn a yellow rock, then I'll give instructions."

Jill picked up a yellow rock and handed it to the third, ready to throw. Her fingers found the handle instinctively as she looked down to the other side of the ice, where she could see several yellow stones sitting in front of the house as guards, a yellow stone in the back twelve-foot, and a blue stone sitting right on the back of the button, mostly hidden by the guards. She could only see a few inches of it from the hack. This situation seemed familiar, but she didn't question it as she got ready to throw. Just as she was about to aim at her skip's broom, she stopped, not seeing the broom anywhere.

"Wait, what shot am I playing?" she asked in confusion.

Jennifer laughed, finally getting the question she was waiting for, then pointed her broom at the side of the blue stone that Kaitlyn could just see. She made a gesture that Kaitlyn didn't recognize.

"What weight so you want me to throw?" she called to her skip.

"Oh, right, that gesture," Jennifer called back, repeating the gesture, "means normal weight. Just a normal weight takeout on half of this blue stone."

"Normal weight," she called back, and her skip nodded.

Kaitlyn took a deep breath, eyed the broom next to the half-hidden rock, and started to push herself out of the hack. She released the rock with a firm weight and watched as it slid quickly down the ice, sweepers following it closely.

"Hard!" Jennifer called, the two sweepers following her command.

Just as the rock crossed the second hog line, Kaitlyn realized why the situation had seemed so familiar. Jennifer, her clever skip, had set up the exact situation where she had missed and lost the gold medal match in world juniors. This time, though, she watched as her rock made solid contact with half of the blue stone in the house and sent it out of play.

"Nice shot!" her teammates called to her, watching her face light up with joy.

"Jen, where did you even come up with this setup?" Jill asked. "It's so random! We would never place so many guards, and that wouldn't be the right call for only third stones, anyway."

Dawn was looking at the rocks on the ice curiously, knowing that her skip always did things with purpose. She watched Kaitlyn approach them, looking as happy as she would be if she had won a championship. A championship... like the world juniors?

"Jen, this is the shot that Kaitlyn had to make in juniors, isn't it?" she asked.

"Of course," her skip replied with a smile, then, turning to Kaitlyn, "You did it!"

"You're so cruel!" she exclaimed jokingly, hugging her skip and new friend. "And clever. I can't believe you actually made me do that!"

"I can't believe you didn't realize until you threw the rock," Jennifer admitted. "I thought you might have hesitated to try the shot, but you didn't. I'm proud of you for that, but also remember that you should only throw shots that you're comfortable throwing. If I call a shot that you're not sure about, you can speak up and let me know. It's better to throw a good shot than a really risky one that might not work out."

"Unless we're about to lose and it's the only option," Kaitlyn added.

"That's true," she reflected. "I can tell you were a great skip in juniors. It'll take some adjusting to play at third, but I'm definitely going to appreciate how you can think like a skip."

"Thanks, Jen." she said, happy that her skip believed in her. "Enough about me, I think it's time for the rest of you to have a chance to throw some rocks! I could use some practice sweeping, anyway."

"Jill! Dawn!" Jennifer called to her two other teammates. "We're going to practice a bit more with you two throwing so that Kaitlyn can work on sweeping, then I'll throw a few stones so that Kaitlyn can get used to being on the other side of the ice."

"I want to throw first!" Jill exclaimed.

"Wouldn't it make more sense for Dawn to throw first, since that's how it would work in a real game, anyway?" Kaitlyn asked.

"Smart thinking," Jennifer said appreciatively. "Dawn, you're going to throw two rocks first. A centre guard and a draw around the guard to the button. We can actually repeat that process to get an inturn and an outturn. Then, we'll figure out some takeouts for Jill to throw."

"Okay, Kaitlyn, time to sweep!" Jill said with a smile, turning to the newest member of their team and her new friend.

Kaitlyn smiled to herself. Over the course of only an hour, this team had welcomed her in and she had become a part of them. They were Team Jennifer Jones together, and she was no longer just an aspiring professional curler watching them with admiration. She was now a part of that team that she had admired for so long, and she knew that they would achieve great things together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I'm having way too much fun writing this:) Whether or not anyone reads this, I can't wait to write the rest of this story!


	3. The Second Crushing Loss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There are losses that you feel like you may never get over. The first one of these for Kaitlyn Lawes was the silver medal at world juniors. The second crushing loss was at her very first Scotties Tournament of Hearts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really tried to research for this chapter, but it's very much just what I would just call "Jennifer gives advice to Kaitlyn and things go wrong as I over-dramatize the whole situation" but that's pretty much how all stories go, right?

**2011**

The Scotties Tournament of Hearts was the biggest tournament that Kaitlyn had been to with Team Jones to date. To be fair, it hadn't even been a full season since she had joined the team, but in the few months that they had competed together, she had won her first Grand Slam and started to make a name for herself in the professional curling world.

There were a lot of skeptics. A lot of people didn't think she belonged on the team. She's too young, they said. She doesn't have experience. Sometimes, when she looked at her own throwing statistics, she wondered if she was ready to play in the professional circuit. It was so much harder than juniors, and all the teams were so much better. Her teammates could sense when she was doubting herself, though, and they did their best to express their confidence in her. They really believed in her.

There were haters, too. That was to be expected. A team as high-profile as theirs drew more than their fair share of haters. Most of these haters came after the team had let Cathy Overton-Clapham go. Kaitlyn, the replacement, was the target of the anger of those who didn't think that was the right decision. It didn't help that her throwing percentages were never nearly as high as Cathy O's. She had even questioned Jennifer's decision in front of her.

"Jen, do you ever wonder if I'm really the right third for this team?" she had asked one night after a loss in a spiel early in the season.

"I _know_ you're the right third for this team," the skip had replied confidently. "Kaitlyn, don't let losses get to you. It's not your fault, or anyone else's. We don't win all the time, and it's okay. I wouldn't have picked any third other than you."

"But my percentages are so much lower than the rest of yours," she had said.

"Percentage points aren't everything," the talented skip had replied. "Thirds' percentages are almost always lower than other team members', you know that. Statistics don't always tell the real truth about the game. Do you feel like you've been playing well? Because I know you have been."

"Yeah, I feel like I've been playing well, but Cathy was so much better-"

"Kaitlyn, I didn't pick you for no reason." Jennifer interrupted uncharacteristically. "I'm sorry for interrupting you. We're putting our past behind us, and you're just starting out on this team. Of course there will be areas to improve on, but believe me, I can tell you'll be the best third I'll ever have. Jill and Dawn agree. Don't listen to the doubters, because we believe in you, and you'll start to believe in yourself, too. Confidence is a fragile thing, but you have skills and we all know it. Even if the world doesn't believe in you, we do, and you will too."

"Thanks, Jen. You know just what to say to make me feel better." the young third replied honestly, feeling better already.

"Any time, Kaitlyn." she told her, giving her a comforting hug. "If there's ever anything bothering you, you can always talk to me. I want to make sure you're as comfortable as you can be on this team. I know it can be a lot of pressure, but I think you'll be able to handle it, but whatever happens, I'm always here for you."

Fast forward a few months, and the team had arrived in Charlottetown, ready to defend their title as Team Canada in the 2011 Scotties Tournament of Hearts. The night before the tournament began, the foursome sat together in their hotel room in Charlottetown, mentally preparing for the important competition ahead of them.

"As everyone knows, this is Kaitlyn's first Scotties," Jennifer addressed the team. "Don't put too much pressure on yourselves, because we're just here to have some fun and try to win. The most important thing is to learn, gain more experience, and improve as a team. As Team Canada, there will be a lot of eyes on us, but remember that we're not trying to fit anyone else's standards. If we win, that's great, and if we lose, that's okay, too, as long as we learn something to improve in the future. This is an important tournament, but more for gaining experience and not necessarily just to be champions or to get to worlds."

Dawn and Jill, longtime teammates with Jennifer, understood these words and had them in mind going into every competition. They knew that the expectations were high, but they never worried about winning. In a way, their team was truly not very competitive at all. They were just good, and happened to win because they worked hard to improve their skills, not because they really wanted to beat the other teams. They always congratulated the other team, whether they won or not.

For Kaitlyn, she needed the reassurance that it was okay if they lost. Although they had played several spiels earlier in the season, the Scotties was by far the most important one and it was where she wanted to prove that she belonged. She didn't earn her place on Team Canada, but she was going to prove that she deserved it.

* * *

 When the team went to bed that night, the front end rooming together and the young third and her skip sharing a room, they were all feeling pretty good about the competition ahead of them, except for Kaitlyn. She had told herself repeatedly that everything was going to be alright, that she really deserved her place on this team, but knowing what competition lay ahead of them, she found herself tossing and turning in bed.

"Jen," she whispered.

"Yeah?"

"Can I ask you something?"

Jennifer turned around to face her young teammate lying next to her. Normally, Kaitlyn would fall asleep within a minute of her head hitting the pillow, which always made Jennifer smile to see. This time, it had been a few minutes, and the young curler lay with her bangs covering her eyes, but Jennifer knew that she was awake. She caringly brushed aside the hair, revealing wide brown eyes.

"How do you stop putting pressure on yourself?" Kaitlyn asked. "I just don't know... why I'm always expecting myself to be perfect."

"I'm sorry," Jennifer replied, "a big part of it is probably that everyone expects you to be perfect because you're a part of this team. And that's my fault. Believe me, I'm even more of a perfectionist than you are, but I know that this team supports me. Winning and losing doesn't matter as long as we're all here for each other. You're always going to put pressure on yourself. That can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on how you use it. You can use it to work harder, which is what I do. Perfectionism doesn't ever leave you, but you don't have to let it inhibit you. If you're not perfect, that's okay. Nobody's perfect all the time, and anyone who expects you to be isn't supporting you. Just remember that I'll always support you, and so will Jill and Dawn."

"Thanks, Jen," Kaitlyn said, feeling a little more at ease.

"Any time, Kaitlyn."

Her skip wasn't just another teammate to her, Kaitlyn felt like Jennifer was like a mother to her. She had experience and she always supported her and believed in her. It felt good to know that someone was always there for her, and she knew that Jill and Dawn would always support her, too. Within a minute, Kaitlyn had fallen asleep with a peaceful smile on her face.

* * *

 After winning and losing a few round robin matches, the team was really starting to work together well. Although she still hadn't fully met up to what the curling world considered to be good enough for Jennifer Jones' team, Kaitlyn was improving, and it was helping the team. Not once did any of her teammates express frustration if she missed a shot, and Jennifer was always there for her to talk to and help her improve. Most importantly, the whole team was having a lot of fun. Kaitlyn brought youthful energy that they had lacked for several seasons, and it benefited their curling.

The competition was also helping Kaitlyn. Seeing her juniors rival, Rachel Homan, succeed in her first year out of juniors, made her want to get better. Although the other three members of her team never expressed any competitiveness, Kaitlyn used it to motivate her.

Finally, it was time for the dreaded Draw 14. Kaitlyn knew that her whole team, especially her usually impenetrable skip, was not looking forward to this match against Cathy Overton-Clapham's Manitoba team. She was very aware of the feud between Jennifer and Cathy O, and she knew that this was possibly the only match that Jennifer really needed to win. It was twice as important for Kaitlyn to win to prove that she deserved the spot on Team Canada. Cathy O had earned Team Jones the title, but Kaitlyn had to prove that she deserved it. That she was better than their former third. She really tried not to think about the fact that she didn't even have to put in any effort to be able to skip provincials and wear the maple leaf, but who was she kidding, Cathy had done the work and she had benefited. To add even more personal pressure, Cathy's team included Breanne Meakin, Kaitlyn's former juniors teammate.

As they waited to walk out onto the ice and meet their opposition, Jennifer noticed her young third looking a little more nervous, but mostly a little more competitive, than usual. She turned to look at Dawn and Jill, who were also seeming more serious than for all of their other matches.

"Hey, team," she whispered, gathering them in a group huddle. "Let's not worry about what the media's saying about this game. There's a lot of pressure on both of our teams, and ultimately, someone will win and someone will lose. It's no different from any other curling match. So don't think about any rivalries or things that other people say, because we're going to show them what curling is really about: friendship, sportsmanship, and teamwork."

With these words, Dawn and Jill immediately relaxed a little. Jennifer was right, this was just like any other game, and now it was their chance to be ambassadors for their sport. Kaitlyn, too, was able to release some of her nerves, although the competitive fire within her remained.

When both teams walked out onto the ice, the two skips shook hands first, a little coldly, but a sign of sportsmanship. When Kaitlyn and Breanne reached each other, they quickly embraced as a reminder of their friendship, even though both of their teams badly wanted to beat each other.

Team Canada had the advantage, and everyone knew it. They were well in playoff contention, although not the top team in the round robin rankings. Team Manitoba was dead last in the round robin rankings, and had only won one game out of seven so far. It was never over until it was over, though, and this was a match that Team Manitoba was determined to win.

Winning the last stone draw and earning the hammer in the first end, Kaitlyn was superb in setting up for Jennifer to get the deuce and an early lead. The young third was thrilled, but the game was just starting. Going into the third end, after they had forced Cathy's team to a single, all four members of Team Canada were feeling pretty good. They were more relaxed, less worried, and knowing that they had the advantage. That end, though, was stolen and the score was tied at 2-2. End 4 forced Jennifer to take a single again, and Kaitlyn made a mistake to allow Cathy to score the deuce right at the halftime break. Team Canada was behind, 4-3, going into the second half with hammer. Not preferable, but not as bad as it could be.

Just a single for Team Jones in the sixth. Despite Kaitlyn making an impressive double takeout which saved them from giving up a big end, it was a deuce for Cathy in the seventh, and then another single for Jennifer. Team Canada was behind, 6-5, without hammer, going into the ninth end. Kaitlyn could feel her team becoming more anxious. They would need to steal two ends in a row to win, or have some other miracle, because Cathy's team's defensive play made it almost impossible for them to score big.

However, when her skip made a near-perfect freeze almost completely buried for shot stone, Kaitlyn was starting to feel better. Cathy was discussing with her team what shot to throw, and there was no easy way out. Eventually, she decided on the difficult peel. She had to get the angle just perfect. A half-inch off on either side would mean likely jamming on her own stone or simply hitting the guard, which would result in a steal for Team Canada, which would give them some hope.

Just as Cathy got in the hack, Jennifer whispered to her third, "If they make this shot..."

"I don't think they will," Kaitlyn replied with a little confidence. "They'd need to get really lucky."

"We can't score three in the tenth," the skip spoke the obvious truth.

Kaitlyn knew what she meant. If Cathy made this shot, they would concede the match. She looked away as the opposing skip released the stone, flying down the ice. Within seconds, it hit the yellow stone in the house and sent it flying without touching any of the other stones. It was a perfect peel for two points. Kaitlyn watched as her friend, Breanne, celebrated with her team, not knowing that they had already won the match, but knowing that they most likely would.

Jennifer looked to her third, the same tinge of sadness reflected in the eyes of both teammates. Kaitlyn waited for her skip to walk up to her former third and shake hands, she just wanted the game to be over, but Jennifer hesitated and instead walked down the ice, as if she was preparing for the next end. Kaitlyn followed her, puzzled.

"Jen, aren't we-"

"Kaitlyn, do you think it's possible?"

"Winning, you mean?" she asked, knowing how much this game mattered to her skip. "I don't... I mean, it's your call."

"I know, but I want your input," Jennifer replied with a hint of pain in her eyes. "I know I said we would concede, but I don't know if I can. No matter what I said, you know this game meant a lot to me. I tried to convince myself it didn't, and I've never wanted to win so badly before..."

For once, Jennifer, the wise skip, was looking to Kaitlyn, her new young third, for advice, and not vice versa, but both of them already knew what was going to happen.

"I think... you should do what's reasonable." Kaitlyn finally said, knowing what she was implying and also knowing that the ultimate decision was not hers.

Jennifer nodded a bit sadly before looking up at the team wearing the yellow jackets and turning stone-cold again. Her ability to control her emotions was a powerful one that benefited her many times, but also drew criticism from those who didn't know her well. She walked quickly down the ice, her shoes sliding, and approached the woman that the media always pegged as her rival.

"Good game," she said quietly but steadily, extending a hand for a handshake.

The two skips shook hands and Jennifer returned to her team, walking off the ice, not paying attention to the other team from Manitoba that had defeated them and were celebrating like they had won the whole championship, when, in fact, they already had no chance of winning. The crowd roared with cheers for Cathy O as the defeated Team Canada quickly left the arena, avoiding the media.

The team entered the locker room, quieter than after any other loss, and packed up their equipment, ready to go back to their hotel after a gruelling day. They were about to leave together, when Jennifer put her hand on the doorknob and stopped the team.

"There are going to be hundreds of reporters out there." she told her team. "Some of them are definitely going to be mean to Kaitlyn, and I don't want that to happen."

"Dawn and I can go take the questions, and you can sneak Kaitlyn out in your curling bag!" Jill suggested, bringing small smiles to her teammates' faces.

"It's okay, Jen, I can do this." the determined young third said. "They're probably going to target you more."

"That's very thoughtful, Kaitlyn, but you don't have to worry about me." the skip said, trying to sound authoritative.

"But I do," she objected, "we're teammates, and teammates look out for each other. I'd tell you if I wasn't comfortable doing this, but it'll be alright. And even if you're the leader on this team, that doesn't mean you have to make all the sacrifices for the team. We're here to support you, too. You told me, winning and losing doesn't matter as long as we're all here for each other. And even though we lost, I'm here for you and all of us are here for each other."

"Well said, Kaitlyn," Jill said with a smile, patting her young friend's bangs affectionately.

"I agree with Kaitlyn," Dawn added, "Jen, we're all here for you, and you know how brutal people will be to you. Why don't you let Jill and I take the questions this time. No one ever asks me anything important, anyway, and Jill will be able to come up with something funny to say or at least de-escalate the situation. You and Kaitlyn should head back to the hotel first and get some sleep. We have some long days ahead of us, and you two are leading this team, so you need to be properly rested."

"Thanks, girls, you're all the best." Jennifer told them all, embracing them in a group hug. "I wouldn't trade any of you for the world. This is truly the best team I've ever had."

* * *

 "Did you really mean what you said?" Kaitlyn asked as they lay in bed.

"About what?" Jennifer asked.

"That this is the best team you've ever had?"

"Of course," she replied confidently and smiling for the first time since losing the match. "Just because we lost doesn't mean I don't love this team more than any other team I've had before. Losing can hurt, and you know how important this match was, but after a tough loss, we were all there to support each other. You were willing to get hurt to support me, but in the end, Jill and Dawn were able to make the best of the situation. That kind of relationship is what you need in a successful team, because even the most successful teams aren't perfect all the time."

"The most important thing in a team, then, is to be able to bounce back from losses and put them behind you," Kaitlyn reflected.

"You're right that it's important to be able to bounce back from losses, but you don't always have to forget about them." Jennifer told her young friend. "Sometimes a tough loss is what you need to improve. For Jill, Dawn, and I, that loss was the Olympic trials. We realized that it wasn't working for our team, and we needed a change at third. It was tough to get over that loss, but once we started working on improving, we have a new goal, and we're working towards Sochi. I'm sure you've lost some tournaments, too, and had that same process."

"Yeah," she admitted, "for me, it was at world juniors. The second time. I don't know if I ever started working on improving after that, though."

"Sure you did," the skip objected, "you didn't let that loss stop you from pursuing your dreams as a curler, and you joined our team, and look how much you've grown in the past few months. It's incredible!"

Kaitlyn paused to reflect on the past few months that she had spent with Jennifer's team, and how much she had learned about team dynamics, perseverance, sportsmanship, competition, and now about turning losses into motivation.

"I guess I am improving a lot," she reflected. "But most of it was just luck that you happened to call me and I was looking for a team. It wasn't like I intentionally sought you out."

"But you would have just worked harder to find a team, and I'm sure you would have found another team that would be just as happy to have you, Kaitlyn." Jennifer told her, "I know you sometimes feel like you're lucky to have had the chance to join us, but we feel just as lucky to have you on our team. Not many thirds out there have your determination and drive, and you're still so young. You have a whole long career ahead of you, and we're happy to be with you for the start of it."

"Thanks, Jen. You really are the best skip in the whole entire world."

"Thanks, Kaitlyn. And you're going to be the best curler in all of Canada's history, just wait and see."

It was a very optimistic statement, but Jennifer never took optimistic statements lightly. She could see the potential in her young third, and that's why she had chosen her in the first place. Kaitlyn was going to make history, and she knew it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whether anyone reads this or not, the next chapter is what inspired me to write this in the first place, so I'm pretty excited:)


	4. On Your Own Now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She finally felt like she truly belonged on Jennifer Jones' team, but Kaitlyn was on her own now, skipping one of the world's best curling teams and pursuing the coveted Canada Cup.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whether anyone ever reads this or not, the chapters are coming:)

**2012**

Ever since she was a kid, as the U13 Manitoba provincial champion and going on to win several other bantam and junior provincial and national titles, Kaitlyn Lawes had a dream. She wanted to skip a world-class curling team representing her home town in Winnipeg. During the start of her third season with Team Jones, that dream became a reality, and suddenly she wasn't so sure about it anymore.

With Jennifer recovering from knee surgery and expecting her first child, Kaitlyn had to take over Team Jones as the skip, and she had already experienced how much responsibility it was during the first few months of the season. She had already adjusted to the pressure of playing at third for one of the best teams in the world, and she suddenly had a temporary promotion.

She wasn't worried about letting her team down. She knew that they would support her no matter what, and it was definitely one of the reasons they had succeeded under her leadership. Dawn, Jill, and Kirsten, their temporary third, trusted Kaitlyn and looked to her for guidance, despite being only 23 years old. They worked incredibly well as a team, and her skipping experience in juniors didn't take long to have a real influence.

Although their team appeared to work well on the ice, it was off the ice and in her head that Kaitlyn questioned her role as skip. During juniors, she had always presented herself as an independent and strong skip, capable of leading her team on and off the ice. When she joined Jennifer's team, she learned that she didn't have to keep to herself all the time. She learned to look to Jennifer as the team leader for advice and to improve her mental fortitude, and going without her made her realize how important Jennifer really was to her and their team.

In other terms, Kaitlyn had no one to look to for help. Her team looked to her, but she was on her own now. Before joining this team, that was what she thought she had wanted. She thought that she wanted to skip a great team, but once it was finally her reality, she would rather go back to playing at third.

After several competitions with this on her mind, Kaitlyn was about to skip at the biggest championship yet: the Canada Cup. Tired of relying on herself only, she turned to the person who had taught her to be able to count on others when she needed it. Also, who would be better to give her skipping advice than her skip?

After being on the road for a while, Kaitlyn was back at home in Winnipeg for a few days, when she called Jennifer on the phone for advice.

"Hi, Jen, sorry for not calling earlier to tell you how I'm doing, but I need your help."

"Kaitlyn! I'm always happy to help you out. You're doing great, by the way." Jennifer replied, causing Kaitlyn to smile at the sound of her friend's voice.

"Yeah, I'm really happy about how we're doing. We're not quite the same without you, but we're definitely getting by. I've never skipped a team close to this great before. Sometimes I feel like I'm not really equipped for this yet," she admitted.

"Hey, this is your first time skipping in pros, and it takes a lot of time to get used to it." Jennifer replied. "You won't feel like you belong at your new spot on the team, but you're the best candidate for skip right now. Remember when you first joined us at third? It took a long time for you to get used to it, but you were able to be fully comfortable at third eventually. You might not get used to skipping before I get back to the team, but just try your best and know that you're the best person for the job."

"I guess you're right." the new skip replied. "But the Canada Cup is such a big competition, and it'll be way harder than any other spiel that we've been to this season so far. I'm going to be with a really different team than last year, too, because you're not here, Kirsten is here, and Jill is back. Only Dawn and I were there last year and again this year. I don't know if I have enough experience to do well."

"You have plenty of experience, you just don't realize it." Jennifer told her protégé. "You've already skipped this team to playoffs at... I even lost count of how many Grand Slams these past few months, you beat, I think it was 30 teams, and won the Shoot-Out! You were incredible, Kaitlyn. Do you know how many great teams were there? Don't take these successes lightly. The Canada Cup might have some of the toughest teams, but it's probably not going to be the toughest event you've skipped. It's not as big of a deal as some people make it. I believe in you, Kaitlyn. And you have Jill, Dawn, and Kirsten to support you, too. You can count on them."

"What if I need advice? I mean, I usually come to you for guidance, but now that I'm the skip, the leader, who should I go to?"

"You always still have me," she replied. "Even if I won't be there, you can still call me and tell me about how it's going. You also have Janet. Whenever I need help, I go to her. She's a great coach. I know you and the rest of the team mostly only work with her during practices, but I always go to her for advice. I know she's always there for me, and she'll be there for you. And your team will still always be here for you. Jill and I have been playing together for the longest time, so everything I know, she does, too. I know you two are very close, and friends will always help friends. Dawn is probably the kindest and most empathetic person I know, and even though she's pretty quiet, you can reach out to her if you need a hug or just a friend by your side. I don't know Kirsten as well as the rest of you do, but I'm sure she has lots of different experience that the whole team could benefit from. Remember, Kaitlyn, just because you're the skip, doesn't mean you have to be all independent and stoic. In the end, we're all a team."

Hearing from her skip about what it was like to be a skip resonated with Kaitlyn. The skip was the team captain, but in the end, just another teammate. She could always rely on her teammates, no matter what position she played.

"Kaitlyn, and if there isn't anything else you need, I want you to be aware that this is going to be a much different competition off the ice than some of the others that you've skipped at." Jennifer told her. "There's going to be a lot more media, interviews, and the atmosphere with the other teams will be different. A lot of those other teams are playing not just for the Cup, but for a spot in the Roar. Don't let their nerves get to you, because for you, this is just about gaining experience."

Kaitlyn knew that her usual skip was right. Although the trophy, the cash, and the pride were all great, it was just another spiel, even if it was more important than some of the other tournaments that she had skipped at. The winning team also gained a place in the 2013 Olympic Trials, the Roar of the Rings, but they already had already secured a spot by winning in the previous season. The worst thing that could happen would be losing a few matches, and Kaitlyn already knew that losses were to be expected and they were no longer anything to worry about.

"Thanks, Jen. I'm going to try my best to make you proud, but I'm not going to put too much pressure on myself."

"You're already making me proud." Jennifer replied with a smile. "I know you'll be great."

* * *

They started the competition in Moose Jaw well with a win. It wasn't an easy win, but Kaitlyn felt that she had control, even if she wasn't curling perfectly. Their second match worried her the most out of all of their round robin matches, because it was against Cathy Overton-Clapham's team. Kaitlyn knew that the feud between Jennifer and her former third was over, but it stressed her out a little bit to think about the loss to Cathy's team at the 2011 Scotties, which had disappointed the whole team. It wasn't Cathy that worried her, though. It was the fact that Cathy's team not only included Kaitlyn's juniors lead for a year, Breanne Meakin, but also her third for both of her worlds years, Jenna Loder. Jenna was her best friend in juniors, and it didn't feel great knowing that they were trying to beat each other.

Before the game started, the three former juniors teammates shared hugs and handshakes, but as soon as they were on the ice, Kaitlyn knew that she just had to work hard for her team. The scoreboard stayed fairly even through the first four ends, with both skips making some mistakes but not allowing steals, but Kaitlyn was able to capitalize on Jenna's mistake in the fifth and score four points to take a huge lead. After that, there was nothing that Cathy could do to stop her. Dawn, Jill, and Kirsten set up the ends perfectly, and Kaitlyn did her best and made up for her mistakes. Team Jones picked up their second win as Cathy's team lost for the second time.

They lost in a fairly close match against Stefanie Lawton, then lost again to Heather Nedohin, this time pretty badly. Despite giving up a four-ender, they just barely picked up their third win against Sherry Middaugh, with one more match left in the round robins. Kaitlyn had been making mistakes. She consistently had the lowest or one of the lowest shooting percentages among skips, but the rest of her team was playing pretty well. They had won three times, but it wasn't because she was playing spectacularly.

In between their morning win and their upcoming evening draw, the team had some time off to prepare themselves. They would have to win to play in the semifinal, otherwise, they would be out. Kirsten went to watch Chelsea Carey's team in the afternoon draw, whom they would be playing against that night. That was her competition style, to watch the other teams in an effort to devise strategies. It wasn't what Jennifer ever did, but Kaitlyn understood that new experience could help their temporary new team. As Dawn took some time for herself, which was what best prepared herself for competitions, Kaitlyn decided to talk to Jill.

"Jill, how can I be a better skip?" she asked.

The experienced second laughed. "You're asking me for skipping advice? Kaitlyn, you know I've never skipped before, and I'd probably be terrible at it. That's why you're the skip here!"

"No, what I mean is... I've had such low percentages, I've been making mistakes, and we're barely winning when we are. What do you think is going wrong?"

Jill thought for a moment. "Honestly, Kaitlyn, I don't think there's anything going wrong. Everyone makes mistakes. Jen makes mistakes, too. The teams here are really tough, and that's why it's been harder for you, not to mention the fact that you're not usually skipping. Don't be too hard on yourself. Most of the skips here have decades of experience, and you're just subbing for Jen, and you're much younger than everyone else here."

"I guess you're right," Kaitlyn realized. "But tonight's a really important game. Is there anything I can do to improve?"

"Well, there's nothing you can radically change in a few hours. Don't put too much pressure on yourself, and don't think about percentages. I really don't know much about skipping, Kaitlyn. Normally I would suggest asking Jen, but I'm guessing she's a bit... busy right now."

The two friends laughed, and Kaitlyn knew that everything was going to be okay. Whether she won or lost, she tried her best to skip the team, winning some games against the best teams in the country. It was an experience she would never forget.

"Hey, maybe you can talk to Janet!" Jill suggested, referring to their coach. "I'm sure she knows better than me."

"Right, that's a good idea. Thanks, Jill." Kaitlyn thanked her friend for her advice, remembering how Jennifer had told her the same.

* * *

 The match against Team Carey flew by. The score stayed incredibly close the whole time, and it wasn't because Kaitlyn was making mistakes. It was her best game by far, and she was making good shots to score key points. By the tenth end, they were up by one point without hammer. If they could force Chelsea to take a single point, they would go into an extra end with hammer. They did even better. Dawn and Jill set up the end perfectly, and Kirsten and Kaitlyn made clutch shots. In the end, they were able to steal a point, effectively knocking Team Carey out of the competition and securing a spot in the semifinal.

"You played great today, Kaitlyn!" Kirsten told her skip as the whole team congratulated her back in their hotel room. "If it wasn't for you, we definitely wouldn't have made it to the playoffs. You made some great shots!"

"Thanks, Kirsten, and you girls all played great, too!" Kaitlyn replied, high-giving Dawn and fist-bumping Jill. "We have a tough game ahead of us tomorrow, though. Team Nedohin beat us pretty badly last night, and I don't imagine they'll be making it any easier for us. We should get some rest. It's pretty late, but we can sleep in tomorrow morning."

"Good night," Jill said as the team parted for the night.

When they got in bed, Kaitlyn mentally went over what had gone well in their most recent win. It was the first time in the tournament that she had felt actually in control as a skip, both of her shots and of her strategy. She was able to develop a plan and trust her teammates, and it worked well. She remembered what Janet had told her, don't try to make the hero shots if you're not comfortable with it. Keep the four-foot open with hammer. Play to your strengths, and don't worry about percentages, because your goal is just to score two with hammer, and don't give up that many without.

Kaitlyn knew that they were struggling to convert the deuce. Going into the semifinal, she knew she had to take a safer approach and not leave it until the last shot. She would keep Jennifer, Jill, and Janet's advice in mind, and play her best. Whatever happened, she wanted to make her team proud. Whether they made it to the final or not, they would put up a fight. It wasn't going to be an easy match.

* * *

The whole team was overjoyed when they received the news that Jennifer had just given birth to a baby girl, right before their semifinal match, but they tried their best to focus on the game, even if it was all very exciting. As soon as they started throwing the first rocks, they were as focused as ever, determined to play their best.

Although they were making good shots and Kaitlyn was playing better than in any other match in the tournament, Team Jones found themselves behind in the score early on, trailing 3-1 going into the fifth end with hammer. Dawn, Jill, and Kirsten set up the end perfectly, and even when Kaitlyn made a small mistake by overcurling her first stone, they were able to get away with it and score three points, putting them ahead going into the halftime break, where Kaitlyn was able to take a deep breath, mentally regroup, and skip with confidence, knowing that they had the slight advantage.

The second half of the match went even better than the first. She was already great in the first five ends, and Kaitlyn was stellar in the next four, maintaining their lead, 7-5, going into the last end without hammer. As long as they could force Team Nedohin to one point, as they had done three times in the game already, they would win. The strategy was defensive play.

Things were looking pretty good when Heather was getting ready to throw her first stone, with three Team Jones rocks in the house and only one of Team Nedohin's. However, when Heather made a perfect draw around several guards for buried shot stone, it looked like it would have to be an extra end. Kaitlyn told herself that she shouldn't try to make the hero shot, but she knew that this time, she had to at least try. If she made it, they would win almost for sure. If she didn't, she would have hammer in the extra end. Jennifer admired her ability to come up with backup plans for tricky situations, and here was one.

When she told Kirsten what shot she would be attempting, they discussed it for a bit, but they both knew it was the right call. As soon as she released the rock from her hand, it was all up to Jill and Dawn. She watched as her rock barely made it past the guards and their stone in the house, but the weight was perfect as it lay, for shot stone, perfectly buried, and more importantly, perfectly frozen on top of the rock Heather had just thrown. Team Jones, and Jennifer especially, were known for their impeccable draw weight and freezes, and Kaitlyn had just delivered a clutch shot, virtually impossible to remove. Heather tried to make an impossible takeout, but they all knew it would be Team Jones making it to the final against Stefanie Lawton.

Kaitlyn curled an incredible 94% in that semifinal win.

* * *

The next morning, Kaitlyn was feeling fairly confident going into the final. Yes, Team Lawton had beat them in the round robin, but it was a close match and all of Team Jones had improved. As long as they could keep up the momentum from the semifinal, they had a pretty good chance to take home the Cup.

The curling itself wasn't too exciting. The score stayed pretty close the whole time, both teams were making pretty good shots, and there were no steals, no blanks, and only one two-point end scored after the eighth end. The deuce was for Team Lawton, and Kaitlyn found herself behind in the score, 5-4, going into the ninth end without hammer. They had been playing pretty well, but it wasn't enough so far. A blanked end meant that they would have to steal in the tenth, and it came down to the last stone, when Stefanie was able to draw for the win. They wouldn't take the Cup, but Team Jones had finished in a very respectable second place, with both Kaitlyn and the whole team curling at 80% in the final. It wasn't their best game, but it definitely wasn't their worst.

"Great job, girls!" Kaitlyn congratulated her team after the tournament had officially ended.

"You were an amazing skip this week, Kaitlyn," Jill told her. "We had so much fun, and I think we all learned a bit about how we can really work best in this team."

"Yeah, that was some tough competition and you led us through all of it." Dawn added, "Thanks, Kaitlyn!"

"It was an honour being on your team," Kirsten told her three teammates. "With Jen hopefully returning soon, I probably won't be playing too much with you girls anymore, but this was a pretty special season. You were all spectacular, and Kaitlyn, you made a great skip."

"Thanks, Kirsten, it's been great having you on our team." Kaitlyn said honestly. "We still have a few more spiels together, and hopefully you can still be a part of the team. We would love to have you as our fifth when Jen gets back. I'm so proud of all of you girls."

Kaitlyn couldn't have been happier with second place. At last, she was really shining on her team.

* * *

Jennifer, of course, was proudest of all for her friend-turned-skip. Even though she had full confidence in her, she would never have expected her to do so well as to make it to the final against the best teams in the country. Once she received the news of their incredible run, she called Kaitlyn immediately.

"Congratulations!" they exclaimed at the same time, causing each other to laugh.

"Hi, Jen, it's so nice to hear from you!" Kaitlyn started. "I hope you're doing well, the girls here send their congratulations."

Kaitlyn put the phone on speaker so that Jennifer could hear all of her teammates, her best friends, who all cheered and congratulated her on her baby.

"Thank you so much, girls, I miss you, but I hope to be back soon!" she told them. "I'm so proud of you all, especially you, Kaitlyn. You did an amazing job filling in for me. I knew you girls would do incredibly well, even against tough competition."

"Thanks, Jen, but I can't wait for you to be back at skip!" she replied, making all of her teammates laugh. "Skipping is so much work!"

"Now you know what my job is like, but it's definitely rewarding." Jennifer said. "And Kirsten, thank you so much for all that you've done filling in at third. If you'd like to, we would love to have you as our fifth in the future."

"Yeah, Kaitlyn told me the same, and I would be honoured to have the opportunity. These girls can't wait to have you back on the team!"

After everyone taking turns talking to Jennifer, she once again congratulated Kaitlyn on her success as a skip in one of the toughest competitions of the season.

"I hope you're happy with your results, even if you didn't win," she said. "Second place at the Canada Cup is very respectable. You should be proud of all your hard work!"

"I am, and it's funny, because I'm not usually that happy when I get second place in anything, but it was a battle and I'm really proud of all the girls." Kaitlyn told her usual skip. "I feel like I've really improved over this week, and I think I can bring a lot more to the team at third in the future. I hope I won't have to skip much more, though!"

"I hope I don't have to be away too much more, either. I miss all of you girls, so you better visit me when you get back to Winnipeg! I hope I can be back for the Scotties, but if not, I'll be watching you and cheering you on in Kingston. Tell Jill and Dawn I'm so proud of them, too, and thank Kirsten for all her work so far for the team."

"Will do, Jen! Thanks for checking in, and all our best wishes for a speedy recovery!"

"Thanks for everything, Kaitlyn, and I can't wait to see what you'll accomplish in the future."

Kaitlyn smiled as, for the first time, she was able to truly envision what was possible for her in the future, both with Team Jones and as a curler in her own right. She loved her team, and she was happy to be a part of their successes, but she realized that she could be a curling star herself. She would just have to wait and see.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I wasn't really too happy with this but (re)watching the 2012 Canada Cup was really what made me realize that Kaitlyn could really become a part of curling history (other than Sochi 2014 and PyeongChang 2018, of course). History-making coming up soon!


	5. A Chance to Make History

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything in Kaitlyn Lawes' career had led up to 2013 Roar of the Rings Olympic Trials, where she finally had a chance to make history.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lot of this is "summarizing each of Team Jones' games at the Roar."

**2013**

The Olympic trials. Everything in her career had led up to this. Nothing mattered except the week that was ahead of them, and Kaitlyn had joined the team just so they could win this most important championship. If they didn't win, it was likely going to be Kaitlyn's last season with the team, and even if they did win, it would still possibly be their last season together. Jennifer, Jill, and Dawn were already considering stepping away from curling professionally at the end of this very Olympic cycle, and what a shame it would be if Kaitlyn couldn't take advantage of this opportunity with her team.

"This is it," Jennifer said to her team as they arrived at the arena right at home in Winnipeg. "This could be the biggest week of our lives so far."

"Way to put the pressure on, Jen," Jill joked, making everyone laugh.

Everyone, especially Kaitlyn, was nervous, of course. The Roar of the Rings was the most important championship in all of Canadian curling. For the three members of the team who had participated in the previous Roar, they desperately wanted to do much better than their previous showing and make it all the way to the Olympics. For Kaitlyn, she wanted to show her team that they made the right choice in choosing her just over three years before. She had grown so much since then, but this was her first Roar and she knew it was going to be tough. She, too, wanted nothing more than to go to the Olympics wearing the maple leaf.

Of course, they were the favourites going into the championship, and that added even more pressure. They'd held several team meetings just to discuss their approach to the trials, and each time they felt a bit more confident about their ability as a team to win.

"I'm not even going to pretend this won't be the most pressure we've ever felt as a team," Jennifer had said just a few days prior to the commencement of the trials. "Jill, Dawn, I'm sure the three of us remember how disappointing it was at the last trials, but we just have to put that behind us and try again. Kaitlyn, this is going to be unlike any spiel you've ever played at. Even though you've never been to a Roar, the three of us know you'll be just great. And girls, remember, the most important thing is that we can all count on each other."

"Yeah," Jill agreed, "and the losses are going to be tough. Losing is to be expected, but losing at the Roar isn't just like losing at some cashspiel. It's much worse than losing in the Scotties, even. We have to be able to lift each other up and move forward."

Their skip nodded. "This will probably be the only time that we'll just have to forget about the losses and move forward. It's not the time to keep working on improving. We just have to give it our all and just try to get the wins. But whatever happens, it's been an absolute honour playing with you girls."

Only a few days later, Team Jennifer Jones was about to play in the first draw of the 2013 Roar of the Rings Olympic Trials against Team Chelsea Carey. Kaitlyn was no longer worried about having to play against her juniors teammate, Breanne, who was Chelsea's alternate who would be subbing at third. Although they were still friends, they had changed since juniors, and they were just trying to win. Everyone was friends in the curling world, and usually you were just trying to beat each other. That was just how it worked, and Kaitlyn could deal with it.

Jennifer's team took a 3-point lead with back-to-back steals in the second and third ends, and even though an early lead was never safe, they were playing very well and already feeling very happy. In the sixth end, Jennifer had hammer, and Dawn, Jill, and Kaitlyn capitalized as their opposition was unable to remove any of their stones, and Team Jones was lying 5 with the skips' last stones to go. Chelsea made a decent in-off to lie 4th shot, but it was all over for their Manitoba rivals when Jennifer made a tapback raise to score 6 points. Kaitlyn was more delighted than anyone when they picked up their first win, 10-2, after 8 ends.

"Great job, girls!" Jennifer congratulated them all with a big smile. "And a huge congratulations to Dawn. I don't know if you realized, Dawn, but you curled a perfect 100% today."

"Wow, that's crazy! I had no idea!" the spectacular lead replied as her teammates congratulated her. "Thanks, girls!"

They all felt great to pick up a win, but they knew that their work was far from over. The very next morning, they played a very close game against Sherry Middaugh's team. Both teams made excellent shots, but every time Jennifer felt like she was getting ahead, Sherry would come back with a big end and keep it close again. In the tenth end, Team Jones found themselves down by two with hammer. They would have to convert the deuce to keep the game alive. Kaitlyn breathed a sigh of relief as her skip made the shot to go to the extra end, but now they didn't have hammer. However, things were looking pretty good when Sherry had to make a difficult hammer shot against two, and when she missed, all four members of Jennifer's team couldn't help but smile. They had just won their second game of the trials.

That afternoon, between their win and their match in the evening, Kaitlyn decided to talk to her skip.

"Jen, this experience has been incredible so far." Kaitlyn said. "I really just want to say thank you for believing in me. This has been so surreal, and it's been amazing."

Jennifer had always believed in her. Even in their first season, when she was sometimes not even curling at 70%, she knew that there was potential in her third. It would just take some time, and after three seasons, Kaitlyn had finally proven herself to be one of the best, if not the best, thirds in the game.

"You didn't even believe in yourself," Jennifer reflected with a smile. "You played amazing these past two games, and I have no doubt that you'll be just as great tonight. I'm so glad we're here together. It's going to be a tough match tonight. Val hasn't lost yet, but you've amazed me with how much you thrive under pressure. I think you've surprised yourself, too."

Kaitlyn nodded. "Honestly, I can't believe it. Every time I throw a rock, it just feels like... it's not even happening. Being here, being at the trials... this feels like a dream."

That night, though, the dream was brought back to harsh reality. Despite taking an early lead, the Manitoba team was trailing 9-4 after the eighth end, and conceded the match after the ninth. Val Sweeting would stay atop the standings, and Jennifer Jones would fall to 2-1 with four round robin games left to go. The loss was incredibly painful, but it pushed them to work harder and they were able to support each other.

"It's okay," Jill said to a visibly upset Kaitlyn. "We're going to be okay. We still have four games left to go, and we're still well in playoff contention. We can do it."

Jill believed in every word she said, but it was difficult to stay positive after such a tough loss. As she supported her teammates and best friends, she started to feel better about themselves, too. She was a big reason why Jennifer was able to get over the loss and go to sleep that night feeling alright about her team.

"You're amazing, Jen," she told her longtime skip and best friend. "We all know how it feels to lose at the trials, and it sucks, but losing is to be expected. And we're going to do our best not to let it happen again."

And it didn't. The next morning, Jennifer, Jill, and Dawn put the past behind them and exploded their way to victory against Renée Sonnenberg, stealing the first three ends in a row and looking like the team they were before their loss. Kaitlyn used the loss to push herself harder, and seemed like a completely different person from the curler she was only a few years before. She used to be the third who needed the skip behind her to salvage what was left of the destruction she had caused for her own team. Now, she was the stellar third who set up all the right shots for her skip to steal end after end, and it was a decisive 7-2 victory after 8 ends.

The next morning, they did not slow down at all. Stefanie Lawton might have beaten Team Jones in the 2012 Canada Cup with Kaitlyn skipping, but with Jennifer back on her team, it was no contest when they picked up the 8-3 victory after 9 ends. All of a sudden, the hometown heroes were back at the top of the standings, 4-1, with two games left to go.

The next game was against the young prodigies from Ottawa, Team Homan. Although they had lost 2 games and won 3, putting them in the middle of the pack, they were well in playoff contention and two of their players had already thrown perfect games on two separate occasions. They were a force to be reckoned with. The game was very close, and Rachel even took 3 points in the fifth, the only time that either team scored more than two points that game. At one point, it looked like the Manitoba legends would be defeated by the young Ontario stars, with the game tied and Rachel with hammer in the last end. In fact, with the last rock, Rachel had a wide-open draw to the four-foot for the win. Had it been Jennifer making the draw, her opponent would have lost hope. Kaitlyn had already braced herself for their second loss, when the young opposing skip, always preferring hits over draws, drew too heavy and right through the house. Rachel looked crushed and her whole team consoled each other, but Jennifer's whole team just breathed a huge sigh of relief, sharing high-fives but knowing that they had just gotten lucky. Now, they were guaranteed a spot in the playoffs with one round robin match to go.

"That was so close," Kaitlyn said to her team, heart still beating quickly.

"We got very lucky there," Jennifer said. "Great job out there today, though. You girls were all amazing. We have a big game tomorrow."

They all knew what was at stake. If they won, they would go straight to the final. If they lost, they would have to play a few more games. Winning meant they would be one game away from the Olympics. Losing meant getting a few more chances to lose again and miss what they had waited so many years for.

Their last round robin match took place the next afternoon against Heather Nedohin's team. It was a must-win situation for Team Nedohin to keep their Olympic hopes alive, so both teams were trying their absolute best to win.

Although the game started conservatively, Jennifer blanking the first three ends, Team Jones leapt to a 3-0 lead in the fourth end. Although both teams played very well, it was ultimately the combined effort of the Manitoba team that prevailed, taking a single point with hammer in the last end to advance straight to the final of the Olympic trials, knocking out Team Nedohin.

After congratulating each other, Heather and her team walked off the ice as Dawn, Jill, Kaitlyn, and Jennifer celebrated with a group hug. Kaitlyn had never felt such accomplishment before. She was really an instrumental part of the team this time, and she was one of the main reasons why they had done so well leading up to the final. She felt like a real part of the team.

The roar of the crowd was almost louder than their own screams of excitement as Jennifer congratulated each member of her team, everyone beyond elated and excited for how close they were to finally achieving their Olympic dream. They had finished the round robin with a 6-1 record, the next best teams in a 3-way tie at 4-3. Team Jennifer Jones was putting on a show for their home crowd, and they were proving that they could truly be the best team in the sport.

* * *

The next day, the team had a well-deserved break from curling, having advanced straight to the final and not having to play in the tiebreaker or semifinal taking place that day. That morning was when everything really started to sink in.

"I can't believe we're this close to making it to the Olympics," Kaitlyn said to her skip. "It's like I'm dreaming. I never thought this could actually happen."

"It's happening, Kaitlyn!" Jennifer replied excitedly. "You were so great this week, by the way. You were the top third in the competition by far."

"And you were definitely the best skip," she replied. "This whole team has been amazing."

"You girls are awesome," Jennifer agreed. "We curled 86% as a team through the round robin. The final will be tough, but I think we can win. I really think we can. Oh my gosh, we're so close."

The reality of their situation really started to sink in as Jennifer fully started to realize how close they really were to winning the whole thing and making it to Sochi. They would just have to win once against either Rachel Homan, Chelsea Carey, or Sherry Middaugh. They had beaten all of those teams in the round robin, and they could do it again. The Olympics were finally within their grasp.

"This is incredible," Kaitlyn said, sharing a smile and a hug with her friend.

One door away in their hotel room, Dawn and Jill, the introvert and extrovert, the yin and yang of the front end, were having similar realizations.

"This is crazy, we're one win away from making it to the Olympics!" Jill exclaimed, even happier than she normally was.

"We should really thank Jen and Kaitlyn for their leadership throughout these trials," Dawn suggested. "We might as well do it today. If we lose tomorrow-"

Jill nodded, knowing what her friend meant. Then she grinned, stood up, and walked toward the door between them and the rest of the team. Dawn laughed as her front end partner didn't hesitate and opened the door without knocking. They generally respected each other's privacy, but it just sounded like Kaitlyn and Jennifer were celebrating, and they surely wouldn't mind the whole team being there.

"I'm so proud of you girls," Jennifer told them all as the rest of her team walked in. "Whether we win or lose tomorrow, we had a great run and I'm sure it will be something we'll all remember."

"And we're going to win!" Jill proclaimed confidently but not cockily. "Don't worry, Jen, Dawn and I will make all the easy shots and sweep harder than ever. We're going to be the best front end there ever was!"

All four teammates laughed, but they knew that they would all try harder than their hardest and put everything they had out on the ice. Tomorrow would be the only game that ever mattered.

"Jill and I just want to thank you two for leading this team to so much success," Dawn told Kaitlyn and Jennifer. "We've had so much fun and we couldn't ask for a better third and skip."

"That's so sweet, thanks, Dawn," Jennifer replied appreciatively, hugging her friend.

"Group hug!" Kaitlyn exclaimed, embracing her three teammates with her small arms and making them all laugh. "You girls are the best teammates ever."

"You girls are the best friends ever," her skip added. "There's no one else I'd rather skip for a chance at the Olympics."

They were more than friends; they were like family. For all of them, going to the Olympics was a chance of a lifetime, but they wouldn't have done it with any other team. No matter what happened in the final, they knew that they wouldn't regret a thing. Not this time around.

* * *

"Gosh, I'm so nervous," Kaitlyn said to Jennifer as they stepped on the ice after handshakes, ready to play in the biggest game of their lives.

The 24-year-old third smiled nervously, obviously excited, but her hands shook a little as she picked up her broom.

"I know, so am I," Jennifer admitted, though her expression remained calm and collected as usual. "Once we get through the first few rocks, I think we'll be alright, though."

Kaitlyn nodded and began to slide off to the side of the ice, where Dawn and Jill were waiting for Sherry Middaugh's team to throw their first rock.

From the start, Sherry's team, who knew the ice from playing the previous day, made four decent shots as Dawn's two and Jill's first stones were misses. It wasn't a great start, and it looked like it was already setting up to be a steal, but Jill made a great triple takeout, setting up for a blank end, which made every member of her team smile. They would need to get better at reading the ice fast.

The second end didn't start out too well, either. By Sherry's last stone, it looked like Jennifer would be forced to take one. Kaitlyn was already feeling upset about not making great shots, but when Sherry's draw went straight through the house, she immediately pointed out a tricky double takeout to her skip. Both skip and third alike called on the sweepers to keep the line straight as the rock connected, sending both yellow stones flying without disturbing the red stones in the house. Jill raised her broom in the air, seeing the three red stones scoring in the rings, and the crowd roared as Jennifer, usually very composed early in the game, pumped her fist in the air in celebration.

In the third end, Jennifer and her team really started to look like the world-class team they were. Making up for her previous mistakes, Kaitlyn made two great shots to set up for her skip, who forced Team Middaugh to draw for a single point. The hometown team was up, 3-1.

Despite looking like a scoring end, both teams made great shots and blanked the fourth end. In the fifth end, each member of Team Jones made small mistakes, resulting in Jennifer being forced to draw for one point against three counters. It wasn't a difficult shot, but when she made it, both she and Kaitlyn let out a sigh of relief. They were still ahead, 4-1, by the halftime break.

After the break, Team Jones looked like they were doing alright, but when Team Middaugh made some great shots and Jennifer slightly missed her last shot, Sherry was able to hit to score her deuce, cutting the lead to 4-3.

End 7 started off pretty complicated. A lot of rocks were in play as Team Middaugh tried to set up for a steal, and Team Jones tried to set up for a big score. However, Jennifer's team was more successful, when the skip even missed her first shot, she was later able to hit to score 3. They were all smiles when they looked at the scoreboard to see that they were leading, 7-3.

"That was crazy," Jennifer said to her teammates as they stood on the side of the ice.

Kaitlyn nodded in agreement and Jill and Dawn laughed, everyone feeling much less nervous and fairly confident about their lead. They tried not to think about how close they were to the Olympics, and although no one mentioned it, it was clear between them that they knew what was ahead.

In the eighth end, Jennifer called for very defensive play, so as to avoid Team Middaugh catching up with a big score. Although Kaitlyn's first double peel attempt sent one of their opposition's stones into the rings, she removed it with her second stone. When Jo-Ann, Sherry's third, was heavy on her draw with her last stone, Kaitlyn watched as the Ontario team started to look upset. They had kept their composure up until this point, when the situation was becoming desperate. They consoled each other, and Kaitlyn remembered all the losses that had once upsetted her. She felt sympathy for her opponents, as she often did, but she also knew that she was very close to achieving her Olympic dream. Looking over at her skip, she knew that they both felt the same way.

Given the choice of blanking the end to go into the ninth, down by 4, or to take a single point, at a 3-point deficit, Sherry chose to take the point and not the hammer.

In the ninth end, Team Middaugh's desperation and Team Jones' excitement started to kick in. Team Middaugh's first stone was unhelpfully outside and to the side of the house, and Dawn's first stone was a high guard, detrimental to their defensive play. The mistakes didn't end when Team Middaugh's next stone was far too light, not even close to making over the second hog line. Dawn's next move was to peel the guard she had placed, and when it was successful, she, Jill, and Kaitlyn laughed together as they walked back down the ice. It wasn't often that they ever intentionally removed a stone that they had placed. The rest of the end, Jennifer's team peeled every stone that Sherry's team placed, leaving all of Team Middaugh more upset and all of Team Jones celebrating with every simple shot.

Just like the opposing skip in the previous end, Jennifer had the choice to blank or to score one point. She could be up by 3 points with hammer in the last end, or up by 4 without. It was a good situation either way. After a trivial timeout, they decided on keeping the hammer. The timeout proved of even less importance when Jennifer missed the shot, her stone staying in the house and scoring one point.

Kaitlyn raised her hand as if to say, "That's fine," as the skip rejoined the team and slid back to their side of the ice.

"Yeah, that's okay," Jennifer said with a shrug, but her whole team was smiling, knowing that it was more than okay.

In the final end, Dawn was all smiles when she threw away her two final stones of the championship, knowing that having them out of play put them closer to victory. With every peel of the guard, Kaitlyn's heart beat a little faster, something that usually only happened after big, tricky takeouts. Finally, with two yellow stones in the house, and Jennifer ready to make her first stone her last shot, Kaitlyn placed her broom beside one of the yellow stones for her skip to aim at. The crowd was louder than ever as Jennifer slid back down toward the hack, sweeping the ice as she went.

When the skip crouched down on the ice and picked up a stone, Kaitlyn took a deep breath and prepared herself to watch the stone flying down the ice. Jennifer turned the stone over and started to clean the bottom of it by wiping it carefully with her hand. Seeing that it would take a while for her to throw, Dawn swept the ice in front of her and Jill just watched. Right before the most important shot of their lives, the three teammates in the hack were deadly serious. Strangely, they even felt calm, just watching Jennifer clean the stone as if there was nothing else to do.

There was something else to do, and that was to throw the rock! Kaitlyn watched impatiently from the other side of the ice.  _What is taking her so long?_  she thought.

_Hurry up, Jen, you're killing me right now!_

She tried to keep her emotions at bay, her expression as calm as possible, but she just wanted to yell at her skip to hurry up and throw the rock already. Still, she knew how important this was, and despite the pathetic simplicity of the open hit, it would be terribly embarrassing if Jennifer missed.

As soon as she released the rock, all four teammates knew it would connect. Jennifer watched as her rock hit the yellow one in the house, Jill raising her broom in celebration and Dawn staring in disbelief and elation. Kaitlyn found herself laughing, but in a way that was closer to crying. She was just overjoyed. The victorious skip pumped her fists in the air, raising her broom, then rushed over to shake hands with her opponents, as all of her teammates were already doing. Kaitlyn was close to tears, something that never happened to her.

The four best friends rushed over to each other, embracing in a tight hug. They were all screaming with the crowd, Kaitlyn pumped her fists in the air, and Jennifer covered her face with her hands, for once completely overcome with emotion. They waved to the crowd, seeing their family and friends all cheering, and Jennifer went to hug every member of her team.

"We did it," she said to Kaitlyn, hugging her tightly.

They walked off the ice only to celebrate some more, sharing more hugs and receiving congratulations from Kirsten, who had been their main supporter as their alternate.

In the post game interview, Jennifer, who was known for showing little emotion in any interview, even after a big win or loss, was moved almost to tears, and when they walked down the ice to the podium, they knew it would be something they would remember for the rest of their lives. They received their Team Canada jackets and gold medals, containing themselves fairly well, although their emotions were rushing like the adrenaline through them, but when they started to sing O Canada, their emotions overtook once more. It was a rollercoaster ride to the Olympics, but they had finally done it.

No one even cared that the team had curled a staggering 92% through the final of the Roar. Dawn had curled a respectable 88%, Jill at a near-perfect 99%, Kaitlyn positively shining at 90%, and Jennifer skipping the team to victory at 91%. She had said before that percentages didn't matter, and this time they didn't. They had won, and that was all that did.

This was their chance to win Canada's first Olympic gold in women's curling since 1998. In the last three Games, it was only silver or bronze. Team Jones could do better. They knew that they could win that gold medal.

Little did they know, they would be making a lot more history.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This team is so amazing <3 If anyone is ever reading this, Sochi's next:)


	6. History in the Making

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Curling at the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi was more than the chance of a lifetime for Team Jennifer Jones. It was history in the making.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one's a long one! That's partially due to the extensive narration of each match, but hey, each one of these victories made history.

**2014**

The moment they got off the plane in Sochi, after flying in from Lucerne, everything started to feel real. Team Jennifer Jones was going to compete in the 2014 Winter Olympic Games. They were by far the favourites going into the competition, but for them, it wasn't about winning. They had already won, by getting the chance to wear the maple leaf and represent Canada in the biggest championship there would ever be. They were here to make Canada proud.

The first time they walked out onto the Olympic ice, everyone was mesmerized. They had watched the Olympics every four years before, but nothing compared to the breathtaking experience of actually being there. The lights were shining, the ice was glistening, and there, on the ice, were the Olympic rings. Jennifer just stood there, taking it all in, while Kaitlyn immediately stepped onto the ice.

"This is amazing," Jill said, looking around the arena.

"This place is really beautiful," Dawn commented, suddenly acutely aware of everything around her.

Immediately, Jennifer realized that their biggest challenge would be to focus intently during every match. Although they were used to big arenas and blinding lights, nothing compared to actually being in an Olympic arena. Every time they slid over the Olympic rings, it would be easy to get distracted by their surroundings. It was important to stay focused, to stay in their "bubble," and that would take some time to establish.

Since they had already warmed up before, Jennifer thought that it would be a good idea to practice developing that "bubble" and staying focused. That would be the purpose of their practices.

"Girls, do you want to slide a few times, just to practice?" she asked.

Her teammates enthusiastically agreed, and Janet and Kirsten watched as the four curlers gathered on the ice together, all smiling.

"Alright, who wants to go first?" Jennifer asked.

"You should," Kaitlyn suggested. "Without you as our skip, we wouldn't be here right now."

"No, we should all do it together." the skip replied. "We all made it here together."

Everyone agreed with her statement, so each curler picked up their broom and practiced balancing in their sliding position. There were two hacks to push out of, one on each end of the sheet, so the front end and back end split up to slide out of the hacks, all at the same time. Once everyone was ready, they simultaneously launched themselves out of the hacks, watching as they slid over the Olympic rings. They listened to the sound of the ice underneath them, disrupting the otherwise peaceful silence all around them.

Kaitlyn was so in awe that she wobbled slightly to her right, and not wishing to accidentally knock Jennifer next to her, she instinctively leaned to her left, her broom collapsing under her and she fell as she reached the hog line. Jennifer immediately turned to look at her third, falling onto the ice, and saw and felt Kaitlyn's foot crashing into her own broom, knocking her over. Jill and Dawn on the other side immediately stood up and rushed over to find their teammates on the ice, laughing.

"I am so sorry, Jen!" Kaitlyn said, laughing and helping her teammate up.

"It's fine, that was so funny!" Jennifer replied, standing up and looking at her teammates.

Their front end teammates continued to laugh, seeing that they were alright. It wasn't often that any of them fell during their delivery, but when they did, it was usually funny.

"That was hilarious!" Jill exclaimed. "What a way to start the Olympics!"

"Are you girls alright?" Janet asked, rushing over with Kirsten.

"Yeah, we're fine, thanks!" the skip replied. "Kaitlyn just had a bit of trouble balancing, and ended up taking me out, too."

"That was embarrassing, I'm sorry!" the third replied, blushing a little.

"Hey, don't worry, it happened once, so it won't happen again." Jennifer told her. "It's a good thing you're not hurt."

They continued the practice, and no one else fell. After throwing a few rocks, Jennifer could tell that they would be a great team, even under huge pressure. Although they were initially overwhelmed, they were able to focus and get used to their surroundings. They adapted quickly, and they were ready to face anyone.

* * *

Their very first match was against China. It was a good way to start, because China wasn't really considered to be one of the strongest teams. Although they were obviously a good team, having won bronze in 2010, each member of Team Canada knew that they would be able to win if they put in their best effort.

Despite the pressure, or perhaps because of it, each Canadian started off very strong, with Jennifer drawing for two points in the second end and stealing in the third. Although China was able to get two singles with hammer, it was Jennifer with hammer who made a tricky double takeout and a perfect button draw to score three points in each of two ends with hammer. China conceded early after the seventh, and Canada had won, 9-2.

Their early and dominating win was due largely in part to Jennifer's astounding near-perfect game, curling 96%. That was almost unheard of for a skip, and it was their team's highest percentage, despite all three of her teammates playing very well. They shared high-fives as they heard the cheers from their Canadian supporters, feeling good about how they were playing. If they carried that momentum into the rest of the tournament, gold medals would be well in their sights.

The next day, they played against Sweden. This was a trickier team to beat, but Kaitlyn and Jennifer, having played spectacularly in their first match, exceeded everyone's expectations by playing even better. They never scored less than a deuce with hammer, and forced Sweden to one every time. In the eighth end, the brilliant Canadian skip made another perfect button draw to score three, and their opponents conceded. Canada had won, 9-3.

"You two were incredible!" Dawn told her third and skip after the game, when the team gathered together.

"Thanks, and you and Jill were, too!" Kaitlyn replied.

"Yeah, Dawn and I both curled 89%, so that's not too bad," Jill said, in a way that made everyone laugh. "No, seriously, you two were amazing. Wait, did you check the statistics? Guess what percentage Kaitlyn curled at!"

Jennifer looked at her friend, perplexed. They didn't often talk about percentages, because it wasn't important to them in the long run. She hadn't checked the statistics, because she didn't really care.

"Why does it matter?" Kaitlyn and Jennifer said at the same time.

"Just guess!" Dawn insisted, and when Dawn said something, she meant it.

"Okay, um, I think I played pretty well today." Kaitlyn said. "Maybe 88%?"

"Close, but that was your percentage yesterday." Jill said. "Incredible, right? Well, I'd like to inform you that the official statistics say that you curled 92% today."

"Ninety-two!" Kaitlyn exclaimed.

"That's amazing!" Jennifer added, impressed with her teammate.

"Okay, but get this, Jen, you curled 96% yesterday." Jill stated matter-of-factly, and Jennifer was about to reply with her disbelief, but she continued, "Now, guess your percentage for today."

"Wow, I did feel like I played well yesterday, but I had no idea!" Jennifer replied. "You want me to guess my percentage for today? I think I played pretty well, I mean, we didn't give up any steals and I didn't mess up too much..."

"You didn't mess up at all!" Dawn said excitedly.

Jennifer looked at her lead in surprise. "You mean..."

"One hundred percent!" Jill exclaimed.

"No way, seriously?" Kaitlyn said, looking at her teammates and seeing their expressions.

"That's pretty cool," Jennifer said with a smile. "That's nice to know, Jill. Let's hope we can carry that momentum into the rest of our round robin games."

"If we do, we'll never have to play ten ends!" Jill commented. "Less sweeping!"

They all laughed because Jill always joked about how much work it was to sweep. They knew that she didn't mind at all, but it was just something fun to joke about. When there was so much pressure on them as Canadian curlers, it could get serious at times. That was why Jennifer had chosen Kaitlyn four years ago. They had helped her to improve her curling skills, but more importantly, she brought more energy and fun to their team. Kaitlyn and Jill had gotten very close, spending the most time together off the ice, and in times like these, they brought life to the team, and for that, Jennifer credited most of their success.

* * *

Great Britain was considered to be one of the better teams at the Olympics, even if they were young. Eve had won world juniors three times, even having defeated Kaitlyn in the final once, an experience that greatly impacted both curlers. With two runaway wins, there was a lot of pressure on Jennifer and her team. They started off strong with a steal, but the game stayed fairly close. When Jennifer made a perfect button draw for the deuce in the third, Eve came right back with two points. Team Canada was making some mistakes, and it kept the game close. In the fifth end, Kaitlyn helped to decide on a difficult angle raise, and when Jennifer made the shot for three points, they were all pretty happy. However, their opposition kept it close, and when Kaitlyn completely missed her double takeout in the tenth, things started to look pretty good for Great Britain, who needed a deuce to take it into an extra end. On Eve's last stone, she decided on a very difficult takeout for three points. Kaitlyn held her breath, watching the stone travel and hit at the slightest wrong angle, giving Canada the win. She exhaled in relief and looked over at her skip, who also looked just as relieved.

It wasn't their best game. They got lucky, but they knew they could have easily lost. Once again, Jennifer had the highest shooting percentage on the team, at 85%, but this time, it was because the others were making mistakes. They wouldn't always get away with that.

The next morning, they played against Denmark, who had yet to win a game. Right from the start, Kaitlyn was making mistakes. They only managed a single in the first end with hammer, and when Jennifer, too, was missing shots, Denmark took three points. Both teams were making mistakes, and it was only because of Canada's stellar front end that they kept the game close for a while. However, Denmark was far from perfect, too, and Jennifer made a successful draw to score 3 points in the ninth end. Team Canada escaped with the win, running their opponents out of rocks in the final end. It was close, but they had won.

Some people said that the lead, the first player to shoot, often making less important shots, couldn't be the reason why a team won, but she could be the reason why a team lost. In this case, that wasn't true. Dawn's 99% game was overshadowed by the mistakes of her back end teammates, but she was the main reason why they managed to win. Without her to set the end up, it could have been disastrous.

"How are you girls feeling?" Jennifer asked her teammates that afternoon, before their evening draw.

"I'm feeling pretty good, I'm really getting to know the ice and I think I've found that consistency," Dawn told her skip.

She was being humble. There was no curler more consistent than Dawn McEwen. Every game she played, she was close to perfect, and she was more instrumental on her team than any other lead.

"I've had some ups and downs over these few games, but I think I'm getting more consistent, too," Jill added.

"Yeah, you two are great." Jennifer told her front end teammates. "Honestly, I don't think we would've stood a chance in these last two games if it wasn't for you two."

"I'm sorry," Kaitlyn said, knowing that her mistakes were costing her team. "I thought I was getting off to a really good start, but I made some pretty bad mistakes today."

Jill gave her a comforting hug, seeing how she was a bit upset and obviously blaming herself for the team's too-close games.

"Don't worry about it, Kaitlyn," Jennifer told her. "We all make mistakes. I've been making a lot of bad shots myself. Tonight, all we have to do is forget about those bad shots, and pretend we're starting fresh. Remember the feeling we had when we first arrived here? Remember that tonight."

Kaitlyn nodded, thinking of the excitement and happiness that she had experienced upon arriving in Sochi and then in the Ice Cube Curling Centre for the first time. She could bring more energy to the ice. She would do better.

* * *

That night, all four members of Team Canada were feeling better, despite playing some close games. Switzerland was a tougher team, so it was important to play their best.

They started off stronger than in their previous match, all four Canadians making great shots and even picking up a few steals. However, Kaitlyn and Jennifer still made some mistakes, Jennifer's miss in the eighth costing them a steal of 2 and tying up the game, when they could have been well in the lead. Once again, the game was tied at 5, going into the 9th, Canada with hammer. The sense of déjà vu further increased when, just like in their previous match, Jennifer's team set up perfectly for her to make a successful draw to score 3 more points, leading to Swiss concession. Canada had won, 8-5, remaining undefeated.

Although this game and their last were very similar, Kaitlyn and Jennifer's throwing percentages had increased, which was a good sign for the future. Still, though, they had not re-attained the superstar status that they had achieved after their first two games. After all, they were part of Team Canada, and no other country had higher expectations for their curlers.

The next day, Team Jennifer Jones had a break from Olympic curling, which each team member used differently. Since they were doing very well, going undefeated through five games, there was nothing urgent that they had to work on as a team, but each curler did something for herself. In the afternoon, they had some interviews to attend to, but in the morning, they were free to do whatever they wanted.

Jennifer, the overachieving skip, knew that although they were the best team in the competition so far, it only took a few mistakes for another team to take advantage. She spent most of her time talking strategy with Janet, as well as analyzing videos of both her team's and other teams' curling thus far. Immediately, she found her opponents' weaknesses and took detailed notes for her upcoming round robin games.

The rest of the team decided to relax for a bit. Kaitlyn, Jill, Dawn, and Kirsten cheered for Team Jacobs on the men's side, explored the Olympic Village and met other Canadian athletes. For Kaitlyn, it was the time to forget about her previous mistakes and restart fresh.

Later in the day, the team decided to celebrate Valentine's Day with their families. Brent, Mike, and Devlin had been in Sochi to support Jennifer, Dawn, and Jill (as well as Kaitlyn, since they supported the whole team), although they mostly spent their time without their partners, who were busy curling. This resulted in the three men spending a lot of time together, and Brent and Mike, both prolific curlers themselves, often teasingly argued with each other about their own curling skills, and Devlin had to play the part of the peacekeeper. On the team's day off, they all finally got to spend time together. Kaitlyn was the only one without a Valentine, but her whole team joked that the polar bear mascot that she always said was "adorable" would be her Valentine.

They were having a lot of fun, but more importantly, they weren't worrying about the pressure of winning. It was precious time to recharge and release some weight off of their shoulders, which would be very important leading into the second half of the round robins.

* * *

The next morning, they had a game against Japan, and it felt like they were starting fresh, which was good. Kaitlyn was feeling more secure, and she knew it would help her curling.

In the first end, things started to get complicated, but Jennifer was able to make a tricky takeout around some guards to score 2. The two teams exchanged deuces through the fourth end after the Canadian front end made some mistakes and the Japanese back end wasn't as great as Kaitlyn and Jennifer. In the fifth end, Jennifer missed and gave up a steal of one, then blanked after halftime. In the seventh end, Jill and Dawn once again were not perfect, but Kaitlyn made an incredible triple-raise takeout, setting up two points for her skip.

"Nice shot!" her teammates congratulated her, knowing that it would be very important in order to win.

After stealing one and forcing Japan to a single, Team Canada was up 7-6 with hammer in the last end. It was easy as Jennifer made an open hit to clinch the victory, having shot a respectable 83%. However, it was Kaitlyn who had really made the difference, curling 88% through the game, which all of her teammates, especially Dawn and Jill, who had struggled, thanked her for. It was truly a team sport, where they were able to make up for each other's mistakes.

That night, they played against Russia, the home team, who were in decent shape for a chance at the playoffs, but obviously nowhere near as close as Team Canada. The loud crowd, mostly cheering for their home team, but also full of many Canadian fans, created a challenge that Jennifer had never encountered or thought about. With the deafening roar of the fans, it was nearly impossible to communicate down the ice, but the team figured out some hand signals that they had seen other teams use, and they were able to communicate adequately. Russia blanked then took a single point, but in the third end, Jennifer had a chance at a tough draw. Kaitlyn watched as Jill and Dawn expertly swept the rock around the guard and rested in the house to score three points as the team and audience erupted in cheers. The rest of the game was fairly uneventful, Russia taking one point, then Jennifer scoring two. That made all the difference and her defensive play took over after halftime, where three consecutive ends were scoreless and Russia could only take one point in the ninth end, so they conceded, leading Canada to a 5-3 victory.

It was a comprehensive victory, not one without mistakes, and certainly not without challenges, but Jennifer's 89% shooting average made it an easy one, clinching a playoff spot with two games left to go.

The top team and the lowest-ranked team played against each other the next day. Team Canada, having already qualified for the semifinal, played against their neighbours in Team USA, who had already been knocked out of the competition.

The mismatch in skills showed when Jennifer scored a deuce in the first end, then Erika, the American skip, missed on an easy hit and roll and gave up a steal of one. However, in the third end, the usually-incredible Canadian skip made her first crucial mistake of the game, hitting her own guard and allowing the American team to score three points and tie the game. Jennifer was obviously upset, and despite her teammates' efforts, she couldn't help but blame herself for what should have set up for a runaway match.

It was fairly close for the rest of the game. This surprised many, but with Jennifer making as many mistakes as her opponents, it was mostly an exchange of singles except for a Canadian steal in the seventh and a blank in the ninth. Canada was ahead, 6-5, going into the tenth end, and Jennifer only needed to make a tap to score one. Once again, though, she made a mistake, misjudging the weight, thus overcurling her rock slightly and giving up a steal.

"Sorry," she muttered to her teammates, upset again.

In the extra end, Jennifer tried her best not to let her mistakes control her. She rarely got upset about her misses, yet she was internally kicking herself for letting this game against the worst team go all the way into an extra end. When the Canadians failed to capitalize, she found herself having to make a pressure draw to the button, with one American rock in the full four-foot and another one touching the back four-foot. If she missed even by a few feet, it would be the biggest upset of the competition, and her teammates would surely be disappointed in her.

"You can do it," Kaitlyn whispered to her skip as she slid down the ice to make her shot.

Thise reassuring words temporarily calmed Jennifer, who released the rock thinking of her third's confidence in her. When the rock slid into the four-foot, just tapping the rock at the back of the four-foot, the struggling Canadian skip let out a huge sigh and shook hands with her opponents, knowing that she would not have won if it wasn't for the fact that their opposition had been the worst in the competition.

"Gosh, that was awful," she sighed when the team left the arena. "I'm so sorry, girls."

"It's alright," Kaitlyn said comfortingly. "Everyone makes mistakes. That was a tough game and we should just be glad we won."

"Yeah, Kaitlyn's right," Jill agreed, "we can put that win behind us and try our hardest tomorrow night. Either way, we're into the semifinal in first place. Let's just use tomorrow as a chance to re-build our momentum before then."

"You mean I'll re-build my momentum," Jennifer corrected, not angry or upset but trying not to let her mistakes undermine her teammates' successes. "And you girls will keep your momentum moving forward."

"We all have ways that we can improve," Dawn provided her input, "and tomorrow's our best chance to take some risks and try to improve in a very low-risk situation. What's the worst that can happen? We lose. Then what? We go into the semifinal in first place."

"You're right," the skip replied, smiling a little now. "Thanks, girls. That was pretty uncharacteristic of me, but I think I'm good now. Thanks again. You earned that win today. No matter what you always say, it was you girls who earned this victory."

* * *

The following day, they didn't play until the evening, so Jennifer took a much-needed break to regroup in time for their final round robin match, while Kaitlyn took the initiative to study strategy for a bit and talk to Janet. She was finally seeing her real impact on the team, especially when she was doing well and led her team to do better. This knowledge motivated her, and she was determined to cap off the round robin with a win.

That night, Team Canada played against Team South Korea, who were out of playoff contention. It was a meaningless game, but both teams were giving it their all regardless. This was very evident as Korea took two points in the first end and forced Canada to one, and further extended their lead to 4-1 with a double takeout to score two more points. Although it was still early, Canada was surprisingly at a clear disadvantage. However, this did not faze the composed Canadian skip, who responded with a deuce of her own. Jennifer's dominance continued to show as she stole a point in the fifth, tying the score. After halftime, she continued to capitalize on her opponents' mistakes. When Korea missed a hammer shot nose hit, Team Canada stole a point in the seventh, and they stole another two in the eighth. Somehow, but not surprisingly, the Canadians had turned the score around and were leading, 7-4, heading into the ninth end without hammer. Then, the front end set up well for Jennifer to make a skillful draw to lie 3, causing Korea to give up a steal of two points. It didn't take too long for them to concede the match, and the two teams graciously shook hands.

"Great job, girls," Jennifer said with a smile, high-fiving her teammates.

The victorious Canadian teammates waved to their families and fans in the audience, who all cheered after another great win. They had completely turned the game around, not giving up when they were behind early in the match. Perseverance had paid off, and each of them were feeling pretty good going into the playoffs. Though not perfect, Kaitlyn and Jennifer both played well, taking advantage of Dawn and Jill's good shots.

Shortly following their win, Jennifer had a media scrum to attend. She was feeling really good about her team, going into playoffs with a final win in the round robin, and she felt that they could carry that momentum forward and hopefully take home the gold in the end.

"Jennifer, congratulations on your run so far," one reporter said.

"Thank you," she replied with a smile.

"And a special congratulations from all of Canada for going undefeated through the round robin. That's a new record for women's curling in the Olympics. You must be really proud of your team."

"A new record?" she said, surprised. "Wow, I didn't even realize we were doing so well! To be honest, I didn't even realize that we hadn't lost. Yeah, I'm really proud of my girls. We've been playing pretty well this week, and we hope to win these last two games and bring home the gold!"

* * *

When Jennifer met up with her team following the media scrum, they were sitting together in her and Kaitlyn's room. They were congratulating each other and talking about what had gone well through the round robin, and how they could keep that going forward into the semifinal. They had a day off before then, but they had already agreed to keep that day free as much as possible. Their day off during the round robin had really helped, and they hoped the same could happen right before the most important games of the tournament.

"Hey, Jen!" Jill greeted her friend, facing the door and seeing her enter.

Dawn and Kaitlyn turned around to face the door as well, and greeted their skip as she joined them and sat down with them.

"How was the media scrum?" Jill asked.

"It went fine, just another day with the media," Jennifer replied. "Did you girls realize that we've gone undefeated through the whole round robin?"

"Yeah," Dawn said.

"Really?" Jill said at the same time, genuinely surprised.

"I never thought about it," Kaitlyn offered. "Wow, you're right! I didn't really think about how many wins and losses we had, but you're right."

"It's a new Olympic record, apparently," Jennifer told them with a smile.

"No way!" Jill exclaimed, just as Dawn asked, "But didn't Kevin Martin go undefeated in Vancouver?"

"It's a first for women's curling," Jennifer told them. "I'm so proud of you girls. We've all worked so hard to get here, and you've all been playing so well."

"Thanks, Jen," Kaitlyn said as the whole team hugged their skip. "And you've been the best curler in this whole field by far. I don't think we can ever thank you enough for getting us here."

"I don't think I can express how much all of you have meant to me over these past four years and more," Jennifer told them. "It wasn't just me getting here. All of you are making history. Sometimes, we don't always deserve our victories, but here, we deserved every single one of them. Every one of you girls helped us win each of our games."

Listening to her skip made Kaitlyn fully understand how important she really was. All these years, she had seen herself as a part of Jennifer's team, but she always saw her skip as the one who was getting the victories, the titles, the trophies, the medals. The team captain was the team's namesake, and sometimes the rest of the team was forgotten. Kaitlyn had never thought about that before, but here at the Olympics, it wasn't Team Jennifer Jones. They were Team Canada, and each proud Canadian equally contributed to each of their wins. Without her, they might not have won some of those games. Without her, they might not have been breaking records. Kaitlyn Lawes was making history.

* * *

Going into the semifinal, Canada was a clear favourite to win against the Scottish team representing Great Britain. The Canadians as a team were curling 86% through the tournament, which was six whole percentage points higher than any of the other playoff-bound teams. Each Canadian curler was the top-ranked through the round robin in their respective positions except Dawn, who was only behind the Korean lead, whose team was already out of contention.

To compare the two teams, Dawn, Jill, Kaitlyn, and Jennifer had been out-shooting their British opponents by six, five, seven, and eight percentage points, respectively. Statistics didn't always reflect the true abilities of the players, but in this situation, it was clear that Eve Muirhead and her whole team would have to play their absolute best to even have a chance against Team Canada.

All eight players were obviously a little nervous as they started the first end of the biggest match of their lives so far. There were no misses as it looked to be turning into a blank end, until the young Scottish skip's first stone completely missed its target for an open hit, flying past the Canadian stone in the house. Dawn graciously helped Eve with cleaning up the rough spot in the ice that had caused her mistake, but the Canadians capitalized and Jennifer took two easy points. Their work was far from over, but it put them at ease to take an early lead.

In the second end, Team Canada's front end set up brilliantly for Jennifer to make a perfect corner freeze, one of her specialty shots, to lie first and second shot stone, which led to a steal when Eve couldn't get rid of both. The following end, Dawn got Canada off to a great start, with Jill and Kaitlyn working on peeling each of their opponents' guards. However, the first of Kaitlyn's struggles began when her first rock was unsuccessful, peeling the guard but also moving the stones in the house and putting them at a disadvantageous position. The situation worsened when she and Jennifer both missed double takeouts, which allowed Great Britain to take two points and narrow the gap, Canada ahead 3-2.

In the fourth end, the Canadian team was unable to fully capitalize as Kaitlyn's struggles continued, Jennifer taking a single point. In the fifth end, things were looking better for Canada when the front end placed several stones in the house, but a quick double takeout from their opposition erased that. Determined to show her team that she could succeed under pressure, Kaitlyn made a perfect corner freeze, buried behind a guard. Although Jennifer made a rare mistake by rolling her stone too far, Kaitlyn's stone was still buried and forced Eve to take a single point at the halftime break and Canada was still ahead, 4-3.

When they took a pause and talked to Janet during the break, Kaitlyn knew that she had been struggling. She had made a few good shots, but she also had several costly misses. She was playing even worse than she had when she had just joined the team, and it wasn't a good feeling. Her team needed her, and she wasn't helping them out.

After the break, Team Canada found themselves in a few tricky situations, but Jill was able to make a nice double takeout and things were looking better. When it was Kaitlyn's turn to make a double as well, she took a deep breath and launched herself out of the hack. She watched her stone sail out over the ice and sighed in dismay as it hit at all the wrong angles, leaving their opponents with shot stone and making the situation much worse than it even was before. She stood up, obviously upset, and swallowed hard as she felt tears welling in her eyes. Angry with herself for letting her emotions overtake her, she banged her broom on the ground and walked over to her skip on the other side of the ice.

"Hey, it's okay," Jennifer said softly to her, in the same reassuring tone that she had always spoken to her in when she was struggling during their first season together.

She took a deep breath and nodded as they watched the team from Great Britain attempt their next shot. It was tough to let your team down, especially in a high-pressure situation like the Olympics, but she was no longer thinking about whether or not she deserved her spot on the legendary Jennifer Jones' team. No, she had known for a while that she truly deserved her place on the team, but she was just thinking that she had to help her team win. If they lost, she would blame herself, even if no one else blamed her. She would have to help them win.

The result of that end wasn't as bad as it could have been, with Canada still taking a single point to take a 2-point lead, and when they blanked the seventh end, it was looking alright. However, in the eighth end, Jill, who hadn't been playing her strongest so far, completely missed an easy hit, allowing Great Britain to make a tapback to lie three shots with no Canadian stones in the house and four stones from each team left to go. When Jennifer called a double takeout for Kaitlyn, she knew it was her time to get her team out of a bad situation. She watched nervously as one, then two rocks were eliminated from the playing area, and her shooter rolled to lie shot stone. She had already told herself that she wouldn't let her emotions get the better of her, but she couldn't help but let out a small smile, seeing how happy she had made her team.

Anna, the opposing third, was able to turn things around and Kaitlyn helped Jennifer decide on a very difficult thin cross-house double takeout. Kaitlyn placed her broom on the ice as her skip released the stone from her hand, Dawn and Jill beginning to sweep immediately. Both skip and third alike immediately called line as the rock travelled quickly down the ice.

"Hard!" both of them screamed, prompting their teammates to double up their effort.

The frantic yelling seemed to help with the difficult shot, the shooter connecting with the first stone in the house and spinning off to just contact the next, which Kaitlyn was immediately on top of, bending down and sweeping it just out of the house.

Dawn and Jill acknowledged both their skip's throw and their third's sweeping effort, completing the shot. Although the end started out looking like a game-changing end for the Scottish team with hammer, it turned into a blank after a few spectacular shots from Kaitlyn and Jennifer.

Ahead by two points without hammer going into the ninth end, Kaitlyn's confidence was gaining when she chose to attempt a very long double takeout on her first stone. In retrospect, it wasn't the best call, fuelled mostly by overconfidence and not very thought-out. Jennifer raised her hand to signal that it was alright even when the angle was slightly off and the double couldn't be completed, but Kaitlyn made up for her mistake with a successful double on her next shot, which would eventually become the key shot to force Great Britain to take one point.

Going into the final end, Team Canada was ahead by one point and had hammer, so a defensive strategy was key. When Eve called for centre guards, Dawn had to make two tick shots, which she rarely ever attempted and felt a bit out of character doing so. Her first tick shot was very successful, but her second sent one of their opponents' stones into the house. However, Jill held up her team, making peels and leaving the house empty and the four-foot exposed. Anna successfully buried her stone behind both of Dawn's rocks, which now served as guards, but Kaitlyn made a difficult takeout around the guards, signalling her satisfaction with a nod and smile to her skip. She was making the shots when she really needed to. When it came down to Eve's last stone, Canada was lying two shots almost in line with each other on opposite sides of the eight-foot. Jennifer wasn't the only skip who could make thin double takeouts, though, and Eve got rid of both Canadian stones perfectly to lie 3 shots.

It didn't take too long for Jennifer and Kaitlyn to decide on a simple draw to secure the win, but it was easier said than done. The pressure was enormous. The margin of error was literally only four feet. The stone had to be within the four-foot for them to win, and too far into the eight-foot would result in a steal of more than one, and Canada would lose. It really came down to the last rock, but Jennifer had time and time again proven that she could perform under pressure.

She paused before releasing the stone from her hand, and she and Kaitlyn both saw that it would need some sweeping, so they immediately called for Dawn and Jill to help it make it to the four-foot. Time seemed to be in slow motion as Kaitlyn watched the stone travel slowly and smoothly down the ice, the whole crowd, herself, and Jennifer screaming for the shot to work out. At last, with a few final sweeping motions, the stone came to rest elegantly on the button, and the whole team was suddenly screaming. Kaitlyn, Dawn, and Jill each raised their brooms in celebration and Jennifer ran over to them to celebrate. They had done it. Team Canada was going to the Olympic final.

* * *

The next day, every Canadian curler was beyond excited. Both the women's and men's teams had won their semifinals, both guaranteeing medals and continuing Canada's medal streak in Olympic curling. They wanted gold, though, especially the women, who were looking to continue their undefeated streak through the Games.

By now, there were no new plans or strategies that they had to develop. Their approach was simple. They would play just as they had through the past week, and victory against Margaretha Sigfridsson's team from Sweden would be probable.

That night, as they walked out into the arena, Jennifer wasn't thinking about the years of challenges that she and her team had faced, losses that had crushed her, or sacrifices that she made. Kaitlyn wasn't thinking about the people who were skeptical about her, the bad days when she had felt like a failure, or the times she had let down the team. Jill wasn't thinking about what had gone wrong for her during some of their round robin matches, and Dawn wasn't worried about messing up her first rocks. None of that mattered, because all of them were just thinking about winning. They were going to win that gold medal. They were going to win for Canada.

The arena buzzed with nervous energy and excitement as the first few rocks were thrown. By the time it was Kaitlyn's turn to throw, her confidence was at an all-time high, boosted by her teammates. Her task was to draw around their Swedish opponents' guard. When she released the stone out of her hand, it felt like a good weight, but she watched as it slowed down and curled dramatically as Jill and Dawn tried desperately to fix its path, but it continued slowing down and was not even close as it hit the guard on its nose. On her second stone, she was still slightly disappointed from her first, but she was determined to make up for her mistake. Still, her rock travelled down the ice and did not make an entirely successful takeout. She tried to tell herself that everything would be alright, but two mediocre shots in a row rapidly dropped her confidence level. When Jennifer tried to fix the situation with a long double takeout, Kaitlyn watched helplessly as it hit at just the wrong angle and left another Swedish stone in the rings. Due to their slow start, Team Canada was forced just to take a single point.

In the second end, Dawn and Jill got the team off to a strong start. Kaitlyn released her first rock of the end, feeling that it was a good weight, but it came up short again. To her, it really felt like it was fine, but something was definitely off.

"It felt okay," she said to the sweepers, "is it me or is it the ice?"

Jill agreed that the ice was definitely still a bit fresh, but no one could understand what was going wrong. After all, it was only Kaitlyn's stones, and not her teammates', that were coming up short.

On her next stone, Kaitlyn was making a draw again, but she watched once again as it started curling very early, slowing down, and stopped in front of the house around a few other stones, acting as another guard.

"That's okay, Kaitlyn," Jennifer called as the stone came to rest, seeing her third looking very upset as she walked over to her.

"Sorry," Kaitlyn muttered, feeling very disappointed and upset.

Her skip turned to look at her, and simply said, "That's okay."

There wasn't much that Jennifer could do. This early in the match, Kaitlyn had yet to make a good shot, and it could be because of her, the ice, or the stones. She had often struggled with consistency, and now just wasn't the right time for those troubles to arise. All they could do was keep playing.

Team Canada continued to struggle when communication between Jennifer and the sweepers was unclear during her shots, but they eventually forced Sweden just to take a single point. They could get away with mistakes, but they would much rather not have to. They would try not to have to do it again.

The next end wasn't looking too good for the Canadians, either. After Jill missed on a takeout, Sweden was lying 3 shots with nine stones left to go. However, that proved to be enough to do damage control. Jill made a double takeout to make up for her mistake, and Kaitlyn made her first great shot with a double takeout on her last stone for shot stone, with no other stones in the house. Even though she was struggling, she was a key factor in blanking the end, keeping the score tied at 1.

In the fourth end, Jennifer was looking to turn her team around, and it was looking pretty good when Dawn made a perfect freeze right on top of the Swedish stone, buried fully behind a guard. On Kaitlyn's first stone, she had to make a double takeout. She watched as the angles were all lined up, connecting in the right places, but the weight was again too light and she was only able to remove one stone. So much for picking up the momentum. When she had an opportunity to make another double, her weight was good, but the angle was off as her stone overcurled and she couldn't make the shot.

She sighed and walked over to her skip on the other side of the ice, and by this point, Jennifer knew that it wasn't just her third's skills that were lacking.

"Your rocks are moving," Jennifer commented, referring to the unusual curl on them.

"Yes, they are," Kaitlyn replied with a sigh.

Despite their struggles, Jennifer successfully made a tapback raise that was too close for comfort, and she had to make a simple draw on her last stone to take two points. Thinking it was light, she urged not just Jill and Dawn, but also Kaitlyn, to drag the stone into the house, but the rock landed well in the four-foot to score two points.

The foursome shared a laugh that eased their nerves a bit, and they were feeling a little better now that they were up by two points. They could tell that it would be close, though.

It was evident that Kaitlyn was not in a great mood, which even affected Jennifer's attitude, something that rarely happened. The uncharacteristic negative shift in their skip's demeanour, though subtle, clearly affected the whole team. When Dawn threw her second stone of the fifth end, a centre guard that was just off by a few inches, she seemed slightly disappointed, something that wouldn't normally happen. The team's morale dropped further when Jill's first rock went straight through the house, and even her follow-up double takeout to lie two didn't really help. Kaitlyn, who was feeling worse than she had in a long time, was tasked with making a hit at an angle to remove a Swedish rock, but it overcurled and jammed on their own rock at the back of the house, leaving their opponents with shot stone. She stood up, and for the second time in the last two games, felt tears welling in her eyes. She banged her broom on the ground in frustration and anger before walking over to her skip and taking a few deep breaths to calm herself down.

Jennifer knew how delicate the situation was. Over the years, she had learned how to control her emotions on the ice, but in a high-pressure situation like this, Kaitlyn was unravelling, but she just didn't know what to do.

"That's too bad," Jennifer said gently and as kindly as possible. "Your stones are curling, eh?"

"Yeah," Kaitlyn replied with a sigh.

She tried to tell herself that it was the stones' fault and not her own, but it didn't help. She wasn't playing well, and everyone knew it. It didn't help her when Jennifer's first stone was a bit of a miss, and when Sweden made another successful shot, they were lying three shots with another stone in the house. The Canadian skip's last stone was a hit and roll, but it rolled too far and left Sweden still with shot stone. It wasn't a great shot, but it was about as good as it got for them at the moment.

"Oh my gosh, what a terrible end," Jennifer muttered as she walked back over to Kaitlyn.

They were losing control. For the first time through their Olympic run, Team Jennifer Jones, representing Canada, was breaking down. When Maria, the fourth on Team Sweden, slightly missed a double takeout to score three, Sweden was still pretty satisfied to score two points, tying the game at 3 at the halftime break.

The halftime break was crucial for the Canadian team, who had been struggling. Kaitlyn had only been curling 48% through the game. She didn't know this, of course, and Janet didn't bother to mention it. They all knew the challenges that their third was facing, and it was just time to regroup and start fresh. The game was tied, and they had hammer, so it was truly like starting over, except with only five ends left instead of ten.

The team sat together in a circle with Janet and Kirsten, who tried to cheer them up and motivated them to keep pushing through the second half of the all-important match.

"Five ends left in the Olympics, let's go make them ours!" Janet told the four teammates.

For the first time since the start of the match, Kaitlyn smiled. "Yeah."

"Alright," Jennifer said, mentally regrouping and feeling less disappointed now.

Jennifer Jones would be the last person anyone would expect to let her emotions overtake her, and she had done just that in the first half of the gold medal match. She was determined not to let it happen again, and as her teammates got ready to get back on the ice, Janet pulled her aside for a quick one-on-one conversation.

"I think you need to simplify Kaitlyn's shots," the experienced coach suggested.

Jennifer nodded, knowing that it would be the logical thing to do. Until Kaitlyn was able to execute the easy shots, she would likely miss all the difficult ones. It was hard for the experienced skip to admit that to herself. She had put all her confidence in her third over the last four years, and not once did she ever doubt Kaitlyn's abilities. She wasn't doubting them now, but the stakes were too high to be taking unnecessary risks. Her heart told her to let Kaitlyn do whatever she wanted, but her head knew that the most important thing was to win.

To keep things under control, Jennifer took a defensive approach in the sixth end. Each rock in the house simply replaced another, the textbook scenario for a blank end. She thought this would help Kaitlyn build up her momentum, making simple hits to prepare for the difficult ones. When the struggling third's rock eliminated their opponents' stone but stayed outside of the house, it wasn't a big deal but it still disappointed Kaitlyn. Ideally, she would have wanted it to roll into the house, because if Sweden made a mistake, it had a potential to score. It didn't turn out to be a big deal, though, with the end being eventually blanked.

The seventh end was fairly uneventful. There were no big shots or huge misses. Kaitlyn's last stone of the end was a draw to the top four-foot, on the centre line. It really wasn't an important shot, which eased the pressure off her.

However, almost immediately after she released it from her hand, Jennifer called, "It's going to cross centre," indicating that it was already overcurling.

Jill and Dawn swept hard to keep the line as straight as possible, and even if it did overcurl a bit, it didn't affect anything as the end was blanked again.

The team met up briefly before the eighth end started, and after maintaining good control for two ends, they were feeling better about themselves. They still had work to do, but they had control.

"Getting better?" Jennifer asked Kaitlyn, who nodded.

"Yeah, weight's getting better and speed is good," the third said.

Despite seeming like the situation was improving for Team Canada, Jennifer decided to go for more of an offensive strategy and the struggles continued. Dawn's second stone hit the guard, partially due to the skip's misjudged line call. Jill brought hope to her team when she made a great double takeout, but Kaitlyn's hit and roll attempt removed the Swedish stone from the house, but rolled away from instead of behind the guard. It was a difficult shot that she might not have made even on a good day, but as she crouched and watched it miss just by a few inches, she frowned and dropped her head down to rest on her knees. Standing up, she swung her broom in the air in frustration.

It wasn't a bad shot, it was just a bad day. The Olympic final was supposed to be the greatest day of her life, but she was feeling terrible. On her final stone of the end, she had to draw around a guard. She watched as the stone made it past the guard, but it didn't slow down as it kept travelling all the way into the back twelve-foot. She stood up and sighed deeply a few times, the action of drawing breaths causing tears to come to her eyes again, and she blinked a few times as she walked over to her skip once again.

"Nice throw," Jennifer tried to console her. "Great line. Your rocks are moving a lot."

"Yeah, I don't know what's happening," Kaitlyn said, feeling helpless.

When Jennifer's first and Maria's last shots were thrown, it was too close to tell who had shot stone. Jennifer decided to draw and guarantee a single point, then see if she could get another point, but she made an uncharacteristic mistake with her stone overcurling too much. She was obviously disappointed, but there was nothing they could do except measure the two stones that were there before, and when it was her stone that was proven to be closer, her team was getting better at holding itself together. They were ahead by one point, going into the ninth end, without hammer. It was definitely a decent situation, and with each challenge, they were moving forward and getting closer to the gold medal.

The ninth end was really the turning point for Kaitlyn, when she made a precise peel to lie 3 shots, letting out a little smile, then she made a hit to lie 4. Her stone almost overcurled and she held her breath, but when she made it, she was finally feeling a little joy. Sweden had been making mistakes through the match, too, though not as noticeable as Canada, but their opponents' first crucial miss came when Sweden was heavy on the draw and allowed Jennifer to draw to the top of the button to lie 4 shots with another stone in the house, then after a bit of damage control from the Swedish team, the Canadian skip started to look like her usual stellar self with a draw to the button to lie 2 shots, leaving no easy shot for her opponents.

For the first time in the match, Kaitlyn laughed, with relief and happiness. This was the moment when she realized that no matter how terrible things were going for her, they still had a chance.

"Nice shot, Jen," she complimented her skip, both of them smiling now.

"Thank you," Jennifer replied, watching as Maria's final shot of the end overcurled and gave up a steal of two points.

The crowd cheered, most of them supporting Canada, and the team looked up to see Brent, Mike, and Devlin; Jennifer's parents, Larry and Carol, Dawn's parents, Wayne and Jane; and Kaitlyn's mom, Cheryl, cheering loudest of all. Their families had believed in them the whole time, and with a three-point lead going into the final end, the gold medal was finally within their grasp.

Despite having to throw away both of her stones, Dawn was feeling great about her team at the start of the tenth end. Jill's task now was to peel the guards. When her first peel was successful, the Canadians in the crowd went wild, and Jennifer smiled and looked up at all of her fans who never gave up. Jill's second peel was also successful, then it was Kaitlyn's turn to do the same. Though it was an easy shot, the whole team's excitement level built as she removed the guard.

"Nice shot, Kaitlyn," Jennifer said, spirits high at last.

When Christina, the Swedish third, threw her stone much too hard and it went straight through the house, all Kaitlyn had to do was peel the last remaining stone in play and even if Jennifer threw her two stones away, they would not lose in the tenth end. She was about to throw, getting ready in the hack, and looked at her skip's broom on the other side of the ice.

Suddenly, the crowd erupted in cheers of "Go Canada go! Go Canada go!" Jennifer looked up once again, her emotions taking over but in a good way this time, and smiled at the crowd before looking down to the hack and smiling at Kaitlyn, who smiled back. The young third prepared herself and threw her final stone of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games, peeling the last remaining guard and leaving no stones in play.

"Nice shooting, Kaitlyn!" Jennifer said, her positivity now unstoppable.

Christina had no choice but to draw into the house, leaving her stone completely exposed due to the lack of guards. Jennifer's follow-up task was the easiest, but also most important shot she had ever made in her life. Simply remove the stone in the house, and the gold medal would be theirs. A nose hit, an angle hit, a tapback, anything would work. A nose hit would be easiest.

After quickly deciding on the call, Kaitlyn vigorously swept the area around the house as Jennifer swept down the path on the ice that she walked along to return to the hack, hearing the crowd cheering for her. An incredible sense of déjà vu flooded over her, as this was the exact shot that she had to make to win the trials to even get to the Olympics.

"Let's make this one," she said to her front end teammates, crouching down in the hack.

"Yeah, let's go!" Jill replied emphatically.

Jennifer picked up the rock and started to clean it with her hand and broom, preparing for the incredibly easy but important shot.

"I'm probably going to clean this one twice," she said, laughing. "You know me."

"Yeah," her two longtime friends and teammates said together, laughing as well.

Jill looked down at the ice and found some debris, so she removed it as her skip continued to clean her stone and Dawn swept the ice all around. Jennifer set down her rock but realized that there could be some more debris still remaining on the ice.

"I'm gonna do it again," she said, picking up her rock and cleaning it once more.

Jill and Dawn laughed, knowing how much of a perfectionist their skip was, and watched the crowd wait anxiously. They looked down to the other side of the ice, where Kaitlyn was waiting just as impatiently as all of the fans. The young curler holding the broom was already holding back tears, and seeing her teammates and best friends getting ready to make the biggest shot of their lives, she smiled and wiped the tears from her eyes.

Finally, after what seemed to be an eternity, Jennifer released the rock from her hand. Once the sweepers took over the stone, her emotions overtook her, and she covered her face with her hands, not believing what was finally happening. They all knew it was a winning shot, and by the time the rock passed the second hog line, all four teammates were screaming with excitement and euphoria. Jill jumped up and down and Jennifer raised her arms in the air as the stone connected and removed the one in the house. Jill, Dawn, and Kaitlyn shared a hug to celebrate their victory and Jennifer tossed aside her broom to join her teammates with hugs and handshakes with their opponents. Kirsten and Janet shared a hug, watching from the side, as the four victorious Canadians joined in a group hug, screaming, laughing, and crying all at once.

Kaitlyn pumped both of her fists in the air and Jennifer jumped up and down, then all four of them raised their arms in their air and waved at the crowd that had cheered them on since their first day in Sochi. They waved to the camera and thanked all of their fans back in Canada, knowing how important that support was.

Jennifer hugged Kaitlyn tightly, both of them forgetting about the challenges they had faced, but just basking in the feeling of having won Olympic gold for their country. It was an amazing feeling that none of them would ever forget. As Jennifer slid down the ice and waved at the crowd, Jill bent down to hug Kaitlyn. They had supported each other so much over the last four years, and Kaitlyn knew that she would never have had the drive to keep going if it wasn't for Jill's optimism and encouragement.

Kirsten walked out onto the ice and congratulated her friends, telling them how proud she was of them, and the five walked off of the ice to hug Janet, whose coaching was invaluable in their journey to this point. She had helped them every step of the way, and even when things were at an all-time low, she never gave up on them.

The victory marked the grand finale of Team Jennifer Jones' history-making run, something that was not forgotten by any of its members throughout the celebrations. Firstly and most importantly, this was only the second Olympic gold in women's curling won by Team Canada, the last being at the inaugural event in Nagano, in 1998, when Kaitlyn was only nine years old. Team Jones' run was also record-breaking, being the first women's curling team to go undefeated through the Olympics, and only the second team to go undefeated at all, the first being Kevin Martin's in Vancouver.

These team achievements were a result of hard work, sacrifices, perseverance, and above all, sheer determination. There were more than a few tears shed throughout their four-year journey to becoming Olympic champions, and maybe it went even further back all the way to Jennifer and Jill's first time playing together, when they were just kids playing at the bantam level. One thing had stayed true, though, and that was that they were always a team. Over the course of four years of change, heartbreak, and victory, they never failed to support each other and none of their achievements could have been possible without the whole team there.

That's why Kaitlyn's own history-making run wasn't really talked about too much. It was also in part due to her struggles during the final match, but it was mostly because she, and her whole team, valued their achievements as a team more than any individual accomplishment. Their individual accomplishments in their team sports would not be possible without their teams.

Nevertheless, Kaitlyn Lawes had made history, becoming the youngest-ever Olympic gold medallist in women's curling, at the young age of 25. If you had told her five years ago that she would win Olympic gold in Sochi, she would have laughed. In fact, as she reflected upon her journey since juniors, she recalled her third, Jenna, actually predicting it.

 _"I bet we'll see you in Sochi."_  Jenna had said, jokingly but optimistically.  _"I can see it already._ _Kaitlyn Lawes, youngest Canadian curler ever to win a gold medal at the Olympics_.  _What's the old man sport now?"_

She had laughed, thinking it was ridiculous, and dismissed her friend: " _That's nice of you to say, Jenn, but I don't think I'm quite good enough for that yet."_

Little did either of them know, it would be less than five years before Kaitlyn Lawes went from being a silver medallist in worlds as a junior skip, to becoming the youngest female Olympic gold medallist in curling as a third. Not one person in the world would really have thought it possible. Except Jennifer Jones. The world had scorned her for her decision to take in a young, inexperienced third, but her faith in Kaitlyn had never wavered, and in the end, that was all that mattered. Kaitlyn Lawes had made history.

* * *

"We did it!"

Jennifer, Kaitlyn, Jill, and Dawn ran up to their families immediately when they returned to the Canada Olympic House. They were all in tears as they shared hugs and words of congratulations.

Jennifer went straight to her parents, who had cheered her on every day since her very first bonspiel when she was only eleven years old. They shared a hug and many tears, and no matter how articulate she usually was, the new Olympic champion struggled to find the words to thank her parents for everything they had done for her throughout the years, the sacrifices they had made to support her, and the unconditional love they had shown.

Kaitlyn burst into even more tears when her mom ran up to her and draped her in the Canadian flag, hugging her tightly. Her mom had gotten her through the last seven years of her life, leading up to the peak of her career. After her father's passing, her mother never stopped supporting her and taught her to keep reaching for her dreams, and now she was an Olympic champion, and nothing could take that away from her.

"I'm so proud of you, Kaitlyn!" Cheryl said in between tears, and Kaitlyn just hugged her tighter as her emotions kept overtaking her and the tears kept flowing.

Devlin, who had spent much of the week celebrating with his new best friends Mike and Brent, was finally able to celebrate with Jill, who had finally achieved her biggest goal of all. Larry and Carol also went to congratulate Jill, having supported her since she and their daughter had first played together.

While the senior Joneses congratulated the other members of the team, Jennifer briefly got herself together, no longer in tears, but her emotions took over once again as Brent hugged her.

"I'm so proud of you, Jen," he said with a shaky voice, as pure love and simple elation threatened to overtake him, too.

Dawn's family was perhaps the most calm of all, although it was just a matter of comparison. Her parents were quite emotional, like the rest of them, and they couldn't be prouder of her. Mike had sworn to keep his emotions at bay until the medal games, and his acquired ability to keep calm brought a little sanity to the McEwen/Askin family celebration, although the celebration around him made him a lot more emotional than usual.

To Jennifer, Kaitlyn, Jill, and Dawn, their families meant the world. Not just their parents and partners, but they were each other's family, too. Four years had formed an inseparable bond between them. Team Canada was like family, and nothing could break them apart.

* * *

Two days later, Team Jennifer Jones was finally going to receive the reward of their history-making journey. It was the medal ceremony. Since their win against Sweden to claim the gold medal, Brad Jacobs and his team had also won in their final to earn their gold medal, the two teams representing the first country to take both gold medals in curling at one Olympic Games.

That night was about the women, though, and as they walked out onto the stage and waved to the crowd, Jennifer, Kaitlyn, Jill, Dawn, and Kirsten could feel how proud Canada was of them. They had worked incredibly hard, but they were about to step on the highest step of the podium, and it was all worth it.

They watched as the teams from Great Britain and Sweden received their bronze and silver medals, and as the saying goes, they were saving the best for last. The five Canadian teammates held hands as they stepped up onto the top of the podium, jumping up and down and waving to all of their fans. Just standing there was the most rewarding feeling any of them had ever felt, and watching their incredible skip, Jennifer, receive the first gold medal, already made Kaitlyn tear up a little. She saw her usually unfazed friend wipe away tears looking at her medal, then suddenly, history was being made as the next gold medal went around the neck of the youngest female curler ever to earn one. The medal should have weighed her down, but she felt as light as air.

Kaitlyn held up her medal in the air and thought of her father, and how proud he would be of her. Then, she held it to her heart, thinking of all the people she loved, and she never wanted to let that feeling go.

When Jill received her medal, she, too, started to tear up, and only the last two curlers to receive their medals, the lead and alternate, seemed to be able to keep their emotions at bay at all. When they received their bouquets, another recognition of their achievements, Dawn felt the tears welling in her eyes.

For the champions, it was an overwhelming experience that they would never want to forget, and the national anthem hadn't even started yet. They removed their toques out of respect, and all five adjusted their hair at once. They could laugh about it later, but it was just something else that showed how strong of a bond they shared.

As they sang "O Canada," a deep sense of pride filled them all, so overwhelming that Jennifer felt her voice hitch and paused to take a deep breath. Kaitlyn's sharp ear heard the exhale next to her and, already barely able to keep her voice going, she choked up and had to take a breath herself.

After the national anthem finished playing, Kaitlyn shared a subtle hug with Jennifer, just another way to thank her for always believing in her. The other medallists joined them on the highest step of the podium to take pictures and everyone squished close together, smiling. The cameras flashed and Kaitlyn pumped her fist in the air with the bouquet in her hand, causing everyone to turn to look at her, and Jennifer to laugh. It was a very simple and unexpected gesture out of enthusiasm, but it made the gold medal-winning skip reflect on how successful their run together had been. She had chosen Kaitlyn because she was young and provided energy and a new sense of fun to their team, and now, standing together on the top of the Olympic podium, she had become the youngest to ever do so and was making them laugh. Mission accomplished, in so many different ways.

It was a bittersweet feeling when they walked off the podium, but Kaitlyn walked close to Jennifer, having once admired her as an idol and now admiring her as a teammate and friend. Before walking offstage, they stayed for more pictures, and as they walked out of the audience's sight, Kaitlyn raised her bouquet to the sky, one last time.

_Goodbye for now, but this won't be the last time you see me. I'll be back._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And I thought 2000 words was long! This really wasn't going to be this long, but no amount of words can create a sufficient tribute to Team Jennifer Jones. And just like Kaitlyn, they'll be back:)


	7. Earning That Diamond Ring

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A rarely-known fact about Kaitlyn Lawes: the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi was the first time she had ever competed in an international women's curling event. She had competed three times in the Scotties Tournament of Hearts, never having won and never going to worlds, but in 2015, she was going to earn that diamond ring.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case it's unclear, Scotties champions get diamond rings:) (Also, this is a whole lot of tedious narration so I apologize if anyone actually ends up reading this whole thing)

**2015**

It had been nearly a year since the Winter Olympics, but there was no slowing down for Team Jennifer Jones. It didn't take long for them to decide to stick together for another Olympic cycle, knowing that they still had so much more in them to curl together for another four years. They were going to try to be the first Canadian team to make it to the Olympics twice, but first, they were going to try to make it to worlds with Kaitlyn for the first time.

Jill and Jennifer had been to four world championships together already, with Dawn joining them for the last three. The three longtime teammates had won gold in 2008, the last time Canada had won at the women's worlds, and bronze in 2010, but Kaitlyn had yet to win a single Scotties Tournament of Hearts, despite having participated in three, and losing in two finals.

Never having slowed down since their Olympic gold, they cruised through the Manitoba Scotties playdowns, not only just going undefeated, but also never playing a full 10-end match - their opponents had conceded each match early, once as early as after five ends of play - to qualify for the national Scotties. Needless to say, they had been on a great winning streak, but it was going to get a lot harder during the national championship in Moose Jaw.

The morning before their first match, which took place that evening, the foursome gathered for a team meeting in their hotel room, wearing their Scotties jewelry that they had accumulated over the years. They were united by their gold pendant necklaces, each with four diamonds, except Kaitlyn's, which only had three. Each diamond represented a repeat provincial victory, and Kaitlyn needed a fifth in a later season to complete the set. Her unfinished necklace wasn't the only unfinished business she had to complete, though. As the teammates shared fist pumps, only Kaitlyn's finger was not adorned with a diamond ring. Not just because she was the only one not married or engaged, either. She was wearing a ruby ring. She had two of those, and one of emerald, marking her second and third-place finishes in the tournament, but she was missing the national championship title that her three teammates had.

She wasn't jealous, not at all. She was happy for her teammates and they deserved their previous victories, but she wanted to help them to another. And having won two national junior titles and an Olympic gold medal, she just wanted to go to worlds with her team. The Scotties was one of the most difficult tournaments to win in their whole sport, and it was definitely a dream of hers to win at least once.

"Our fourth Scotties together," Jennifer said to her team with a smile. "Let's take this one match at a time. It's going to be tough, but I know we've been getting better every year."

"Let's do this!" Jill exclaimed.

"Let's do this for Kaitlyn," Jennifer added, "it's about time we all got that diamond ring."

"Thanks, Jen," Kaitlyn said gratefully, hugging her teammates. "No matter what happens, I know we're going to have a lot of fun."

* * *

That night, they played against the team from Ontario, skipped by Julie Hastings. Although both teams were good, Team Manitoba was the clear favourite, and it showed, when they stole one point in the first end and two in the third. With good shots coming from every member of the team, the forced Ontario to one point, then scored three points with hammer, bringing them to a commanding 6-1 lead by the halftime break. However, after they only scored one point in the sixth, Team Hastings stole three ends in a row, narrowing the gap to 6-5. With a quick pep talk, Jennifer ensured that her team would not give up another steal in the final end, and they didn't, sealing the victory with a single point. It felt good starting off with a win, but they knew they would have to be sharper in the future.

The next day, their afternoon match was just like a warmup for their future matches. Manitoba faced British Columbia, which was considered to be one of the weaker teams at the tournament, having lost twice already and ranking very low in the national standings. The reigning Olympic champions dominated, stealing four ends in a row in the third to sixth ends, two of those steals of a commanding three points each. Their opponents couldn't put up a fight, and conceded after 8 ends, and Team Jennifer Jones picked up a second win, 11-2, to remain undefeated, Dawn throwing a perfect game to lead her team to victory, literally.

They didn't have much time to rest before playing against Stefanie Lawton's Saskatchewan team that evening. The veteran Scotties skip was competing with a team of Scotties rookies, but they were a strong team and Jennifer knew it. Her offensive play helped her team to pick up an early 3-0 lead after two ends, but Stefanie narrowed the gap with a deuce of her own in the fifth. The rest of the game was fairly close, but both teams played well and Jennifer's early lead held up to get her the win against one of the best skips at the national championship.

It was easy to get tired quickly at the Scotties, with teams playing several games a day for several days in a row, but Jennifer's seasoned team showed no signs of stopping with a match against Newfoundland and Labrador the next morning. The Manitoba team took an early lead and maintained a slight edge over their East Coast opposition through to the sixth end, but with a few stellar shots from Kaitlyn and Jennifer to capitalize on their opponents' mistakes, a spectacular steal of five points for the undefeated team kept them undefeated after four games.

After their win, Jennifer and her team had the day off before their evening draw, and it seemed like a good time for the team to regroup. They gathered together in their room for a team discussion, just to see how things were going.

"Well, we're four-and-oh so far," Jennifer addressed her team, referring to their undefeated record so far. "How are you girls feeling?"

"Tired," Jill said with a laugh, and her teammates all agreed emphatically.

"Okay, so we're all tired," Jennifer said, "let's take the afternoon to rest and get ready for tonight. We definitely need to be ready and sharp to play against Team Canada."

Kaitlyn, Jill, and Dawn all agreed. Rachel Homan's team representing Team Canada had been Scotties champions for the last two years in a row, and they were incredibly tough opponents, also having gone undefeated so far in the championship. One of them would have to lose, and the proud Manitobans would do their best to maintain a clean record.

* * *

Team Manitoba against Team Canada was one of the most highly-anticipated round robin matches of the tournament. Team Jones had proven time and time again to have the ability to be the best team in Canada, even the best team in the world, but it was Team Homan that had won the two Scotties and medalled at two worlds in the last two years.

Seeing their opponents wearing the Team Canada jerseys motivated all of Jennifer's team to play even harder. They wanted nothing but to get the chance to wear those jerseys again, to represent Canada at worlds, and return to the Scotties the following year wearing the colour red. Kaitlyn had only had the privilege of wearing the coveted jersey twice. Most recently, it was at the Olympics, where she had battled her way to victory with her teammates, earning the right to represent their country and eventually going on to make history and win gold. The other time that she had worn the Team Canada jersey was at her very first Scotties. She hadn't earned that jersey; she had just joined the team that year. This time, she was determined to earn herself and her team the title of Team Canada once again.

However, Jennifer gave up the hammer right from the start by allowing Rachel to steal a point in the first end. If there was anything Team Jones could do, though, it was bounce back. They did exactly that, capitalizing on their opponents' mistakes and scoring three in the second end. The two teams went back and forth, and after the fifth end, the score was tied, 4-4. Both teams played very well in the second half, constantly keeping the pressure on, and every member of each team contributed significantly. The score was tied, 7-7, after the ninth end, but it was the last stone advantage that made all the difference, because the hammer then belonged to Team Manitoba, allowing them to score a single point and win the game.

Team Canada was no longer undefeated, the team coming from Ontario having lost to their neighbouring rivals to the west, and Jennifer Jones was proving that she could still potentially win another Scotties. Kaitlyn's first national title was getting closer and closer in sight.

The next day, Team Manitoba didn't slow down as they took on Team Quebec. Stealing two points in the fourth, then four in the following end, Jennifer and her team were in control to take the win, 9-3, after only eight ends of play.

It was looking like Jennifer and her team were going to be unstoppable, being one of only two undefeated teams so far, and victory against Mary-Anne Arsenault's Nova Scotia team, who were struggling at a 2-5 record, seemed probable. The morning match started out with the teams playing pretty evenly, but the Nova Scotians were able to convert two deuces in the first half, bringing them to a 5-2 lead against the Manitoba favourites after the fifth end. This came as a surprise to both teams, but Jennifer could see that her team was not playing as well as they normally had. It looked like they could catch up with a steal in the seventh, but when there were misses coming from all members of the Manitoba team, Mary-Anne dominated and scored three points in the eighth end, and there was no catching up from that. It was a 9-6 upset after all ten ends were played, and suddenly, the reigning Olympic champions were no longer undefeated through the national championship.

After having been together for so long, the team wasn't too upset about losing. It was something to be expected, especially in a tournament as tough as the Scotties. They could handle it and bounce back, so they didn't really talk about it before they evening draw against Team New Brunswick, who were also not among the strongest teams in the competition. They knew much better than to take victory for granted, but they knew they were more than capable of winning.

Although their opponents were able to convert two deuces over the course of the match, Jennifer and her team were able to score two ends of three points each, and it was back-and-forth action as Team Manitoba ended up winning, 9-7. The win helped them to pick their momentum back up, and they went to sleep that night feeling good about themselves, looking forward to the next day.

Feeling refreshed and ready to play, Team Jennifer Jones stayed sharp and dominated against the team from PEI, scoring three points in the first end and stealing another three only a few ends later. It was a 10-2 win for the Manitoba team after only seven ends, guaranteeing them a spot in the playoffs.

That afternoon, the opponents from Manitoba and Northern Ontario were feeling pretty exhausted from the many long days of competition, but Jennifer kept her team going. A deuce, a steal, and a crucial three-point end were all they needed to defeat the newly-introduced Northern Ontario team.

* * *

It had been an exhausting week, but it wasn't over yet. Team Jones still had one more round robin match and playoffs before they had a shot to be crowned Scotties champions. That night, they held a quick team meeting to keep themselves going into the last few days of the competition.

"How are you girls feeling?" Jennifer asked, making sure to check in on her teammates before the next important games.

"Tired, but I think a good night's sleep will help with that," Jill replied.

"I'm tired, too, but I feel like I've been playing really well and I'm still improving." Kaitlyn added. "I think all of us are feeling that way."

Dawn nodded. "I agree with Kaitlyn. I'm really excited for playoffs! I think we've been improving each year and we really have a good shot at winning this time!"

"We have some tough games ahead of us, but honestly, I have to agree with you." Jennifer admitted with a smile. "But let's take this one game at a time. Val's got one of the best teams here, and we're going to play our absolute best against her."

Kaitlyn, Jill, and Dawn all agreed. Even though both they and Val Sweeting's Alberta team had already qualified for playoffs, in first and second place at that, they would have to play against each other not once, but twice in the next day, in their final round robin match and then their playoff match. The playoff match would determine which team would advance straight to the final, and doing so was crucial. It would be important to win their round robin match to keep their momentum going, and hopefully that would help them to win the playoff.

They were taking it one game at a time, but each time they got one step closer to finally winning the Canadian title.

* * *

The next morning, the Manitoba and Alberta rivals were on the ice early. It was an important day for both teams, looking to advance further in the playoffs on their way to a Scotties title, but it was especially special for Jennifer and her team. It was exactly a year ago that they had become Olympic champions, winning in the Olympic final representing Team Canada. Now, Val Sweeting and her team were trying to defeat the reigning Olympic champions right before playoffs started.

Team Manitoba, still pushing through after a long and tiring week, started strong with three points, giving them an early advantage over the talented Alberta team. Val fought back with two points of her own, but Jennifer stole one in the fourth and kept the offence going, with a steal of three in the fifth, taking a commanding 8-2 lead at halftime. It was a very strong start to the first of two matches that the teams would have to play against each other in. In the sixth end, Val fought back with a deuce, but Jennifer didn't slow down with another two points, and when the Albertan team only managed a single point in the eighth, they conceded and gave the 10-5 win to the top-ranked Team Manitoba.

There was not much time before the seeded 1 vs. 2 playoff, and with a very successful streak going, Jennifer and her team decided to take some time off to rest before their rematch against Alberta's Team Sweeting.

The playoff got off to a rocky start when Dana, the second for Team Alberta, had her stone completely miss its target and go straight through the house. A mistake early in the end could still greatly affect the result, though, and Team Manitoba took advantage of the opportunity to set up for a potentially high-scoring first end. It was an aggressive and risky approach when they were still getting to know the ice, but when it came time for Jennifer's first stone, she made no mistake as she made a very difficult double tapback, moving two of Alberta's red stones into the back of the twelve-foot and setting up for an eventual four points to take a huge early lead.

In the second end, the Manitoba team kept the offence going and forced Val to draw for a single point, then they blanked the third end. In the fourth end, Team Alberta started to play much better, and the Manitoba skip missed a difficult double takeout to give up a steal of one. Again, in the following end, Val kept the offence tight and Jennifer's team was unable to get themselves into a very good position. The Manitoba skip had to make an inch-perfect draw to the side of the button, and when it was only a few inches too heavy, she gave up another steal. Suddenly, Team Alberta was catching up, and it was 4-3.

After halftime, Val and her team didn't slow down, and when Jennifer just missed a double takeout by about a foot on her first stone, she eventually just took a single point. In the seventh end, Val had the hammer, and Team Manitoba was starting to show signs of tiredness, when Jill's shooter from a peel knocked their own yellow stone from the four-foot to the back of the house. Kaitlyn then had to make a very tricky peel where their opponents' stone was only a few inches on top of their own, and she knocked both stones out of the house, eventually giving Val the opportunity to draw for two points, and suddenly the game was tied.

In the eighth end, Jill and Kaitlyn once again were not perfect with their shots, but Jennifer made two nice hits to get the deuce and keep them ahead. The following end, the front end and Kaitlyn were back on track with a nice setup, and after their skip's first stone, they were lying four shots in the house, forcing Val to take a single point, and giving them the hammer and the lead going into the final end.

With a few great tick shots by Dawn and defensive play from the rest of Team Manitoba, Jennifer made an easy draw to score one point and take the win, advancing them straight to the final, and more importantly, giving them a much-needed break the following day.

The team shared high-fives and hugs after shaking hands with their opponents. Despite a few mistakes, the whole team had played very well, and Kaitlyn, who had curled an excellent 85% that game, was on her way to her long-overdue first Scotties title. The whole team was beyond excited.

It was a pretty special night. Not only had they qualified straight to the Scotties final, they were also celebrating the one-year anniversary of winning in the Olympic final. It had been an amazing year, and a Scotties title would be the diamond to top off the year of success.

* * *

The next day was the 3 vs. 4 playoff and the semifinal, both of which Team Manitoba did not have to compete in, so Jennifer, Kaitlyn, Jill, and Dawn got a well-deserved break. Some teams might spend that time discussing strategy for the final, or working on figuring out their potential opponents' strategy. This team spent most of their time sleeping. They were beyond exhausted, and they needed to be well-rested for the final. Whoever they faced would bring their A-game, but they could be sharper and gain a potential edge by having slept enough.

Val Sweeting's Team Alberta won the semifinal, putting them in the Scotties final against Team Manitoba. For Jennifer's team, this was their third consecutive time facing Val's team, and they were hoping that the third time wouldn't be the charm for their prairie rivals.

Although the day off had helped Jennifer and her team mentally, their unfamiliarity with the ice caused some early mistakes in the final. Kaitlyn made up for her mistake with her second rock, a draw to the top four-foot, completely buried. Despite a mistake from the four-time Scotties champion skip, Jennifer was able to make a draw for two points, an early advantage. However, in the second end, she missed two double takeouts, allowing Val to score a deuce right back, and with a blank third end, the score was tied.

In the fourth end, Team Alberta's front end took the advantage and set up well, forcing the Manitobans to a single point, but in the following end, Dawn, Jill, and Kaitlyn were the ones to start off strong, and missing a tricky in-off, Val also just scored one point. The game was tied at 3 by halftime, and Jennifer knew that her team would have to fight for the win.

In the sixth end, Team Alberta once again started off strong, and it was looking like a disaster for Team Manitoba. Even with a double takeout from Kaitlyn, the Albertans still had two shot stones, so Jennifer eventually took a single point. Her team came back with a strong setup in the next end, forcing Val to one again. The back and forth play continued, when, even with a great runback double on her first rock, Jennifer only managed a single, and in the ninth, she was lying three shots, once again forcing Val to one. The game was tied again, going into the tenth end, and Team Manitoba had hammer.

In the tenth end, Jennifer called for defensive play to prevent a steal. Kaitlyn's first rock was a peel, and although it took out the guard, it also took out their own stone, the only stone, in the house. It disappointed the third, who was so close to her first Scotties title, but the mistake didn't seem to matter when, on the very last stone, Jennifer had to draw to the full twelve-foot to win. It was an easy shot. The decorated Manitoba skip was known for her perfect draw weight, and Kaitlyn, placing her broom down on the ice, was confident as she watched her skip release the stone out of her hand. It travelled smoothly down the ice, past the hog line, into the top twelve-foot... and kept on going. All eight players on the ice watched as it slid onto and past the button, out of the back four-foot, into the eight-foot, and all the way into the back twelve-foot. Kaitlyn held her breath as she watched it stop, just inches away from losing them the national title.

But it stopped, and they had won. Jennifer pumped her fist in the air in celebration and great relief, walking up to her opponents to share handshakes and congratulations, then went over to her teammates to share a group hug. They had survived a scare, and it was just relief and excitement now. Jennifer, overwhelmed with emotion and pride for her team, hugged Kaitlyn and lifted her right off the ground in joy.

"I'm so proud of you!" the now five-time Scotties champion exclaimed. "Your first Scotties title!"

The realization hit Kaitlyn, she was now a Scotties champion. It was the title she had been missing for so long, and now she had it. She was so fortunate to have a team that helped her to grow and learn, and at long last, she had earned that diamond ring.

After celebrating a bit more off the ice, the team walked back down the ice in a victory celebration, walking to the podium. As they stepped up onto the top step of the podium, they remembered how, exactly a year ago, they had stepped up onto the top step of another, bigger Olympic podium. It had been a year since they had received their Olympic gold medals, and as they watched Rachel Homan and Val Sweeting's teams receive their bronze and silver medals and plaques, they reflected on what an amazing year it had been. Kaitlyn was on top of the world. From making history as the youngest Olympic gold medallist in women's curling to claiming her first Scotties title, she could not wait for what was still to come.

The winning Manitoba team received their mini replicas of the Scotties trophy, and Kaitlyn jumped up and down when she held hers. She could see the larger trophy right in front of her, and she was elated that she could be a part of its legacy. When she received her gold medal, she was almost in tears. After the Olympics and the Roar, this was the most important gold medal she had received, even more so than her juniors medals. She was a Canadian champion, and it was an incredible feeling.

* * *

Arriving in Japan was a surreal experience. Jennifer, Jill, and Dawn had all travelled around the world for curling, and the skip and second had already been to four world championships in the past. However, it was an entirely different experience with Kaitlyn on the team. She was a unique part of the team, though no longer new to the team, and they hadn't had many opportunities to travel internationally together. It was a refreshing new experience for the longstanding members of the team to go to worlds with a teammate who was still relatively new to the international scene, although she was anything but a rookie, already having made global curling history and winning an Olympic gold medal.

By virtue of being Team Canada and the reigning Olympic gold medallists, Team Jones were the favourites going into the competition. To the rest of the world, it seemed like they were unbeatable. It was like they were on a whole new level of curling greatness. They knew, though, that they had worked incredibly hard, lost more than a few important matches, faced heartbreak, and played against some of the best teams in the world to get to where they were. They were not invincible, losses were to be expected, but they had learned to bounce right back.

They started off the competition strong with two wins, a nail-biter against Finland and an impressive 9-4 victory in eight ends over Eve Muirhead's Olympic bronze medal-winning Scottish team.

Many teams at worlds had also been to the Olympics in Sochi, and Team Canada's next match would be a rematch of the Olympic final, Jennifer's golden team taking on Margaretha Sigfridsson's fierce team from Sweden. The Canadians started off strong with three points, but the Swedes clawed back as Jennifer and her teammates were not perfect, and with a late three-point end of their own, Sweden put Canada in a tricky situation in the tenth, at a three-point deficit with hammer. Unlike at the Olympics, it was the Swedish team that took the win.

It was tough for all members of Jennifer's team, but they were determined to make a comeback. In their next five matches, they stole five ends in a match, persevered through back-and-forth play, scored two three-point ends in a match, squeaked by with an 8-7 win that came down to the last stone, and scored a five-point end in a game that ended after six, to defeat China, Russia, USA, Denmark, and Norway.

Their streak came to a halt with a loss to the impressive Swiss team skipped by Alina Pätz, when they made some early mistakes and were unable to score two points to tie in the final end. Suddenly, it was clear that Team Jennifer Jones was not invincible. Despite not losing another round robin match after that, Team Canada finished in second place in the standings, only behind Team Switzerland, the two teams moving forward to the 1 vs. 2 playoff. They had done well as a team, but Jill, Kaitlyn, and Jennifer had all struggled individually through the week, and even Dawn was not curling as well as she normally would. They were not playing their best, but it had still been enough for them to qualify for playoffs.

With a day off before the 1 vs. 2 page playoff, Jennifer decided to hold a team meeting to discuss their approach for the difficult games ahead of them.

"How are you girls feeling?" she asked first, as they gathered around a table in their hotel room in Sapporo.

"Not great, honestly," Jill admitted. "I haven't been playing too well; I've had a lot of trouble figuring out the ice and being consistent."

"Me, too," Dawn added, "I've played well sometimes, but my draw weight has been inconsistent."

"I agree," Jennifer said. "Honestly, this week had flown by, but looking back, none of the teams here, ourselves included, have played as well as we normally would. Obviously, Switzerland has been playing well, and so have we, but I think it's been a challenge for everyone. Let's just play our best, no pressure, and have fun. Playoffs are a big deal, but whatever the outcome is, we've already made it."

The experienced skip didn't need to explain her words for her teammates to understand her. Even Kaitlyn, who didn't have the same experience at worlds as her teammates, knew what Jennifer meant. Winning the Scotties was their ultimate goal, and worlds was the reward. It was about the journey, not the destination, and having made it to the playoffs at worlds already, they had already achieved what they wanted. A medal, preferably gold, would be the ultimate reward, but if not, the Scotties ring was already great. The world championships were a rare opportunity, and when they got it, they wanted to savour it.

* * *

When it came time for the playoff to begin, the Canadians knew they would have to work hard. Switzerland had beaten them in the round robin, and with some excellent shots in the first end, Alina Pätz was giving them a challenge by taking an early two-point lead. After a blank second end, it was back and forth as each team took one point with hammer in the third and fourth ends. In the fifth end, Jennifer was making a tap with her last stone, in an attempt to score a deuce, but her weight judgement was off and it undercurled, giving them only a single point and a 3-2 deficit by the halftime break. She was obviously disappointed, but the direction of the game didn't change, with back and forth singles in the sixth and seventh ends. However, in the eighth end, it was the Swiss skip who missed a routine double takeout to give up a steal of one, and suddenly the score was tied.

In the ninth end, Team Canada had set up a dangerous situation, but with an incredibly precise tapback, Alina was lying 5 shots after her first stone, allowing her to score two points and take a two-point lead going into the final end. Jennifer would have to convert the deuce to tie, but with an excellent double takeout, the impressive Swiss skip ran the reigning Olympic champions out of rocks. It was their second loss to Switzerland in the championship, and they would have to take the long route to the final and play against Russia, skipped by Anna Sidorova, in the semifinal.

It wasn't that they had played very badly. Dawn, Jill, and Kaitlyn had played quite well, and Jennifer had also played well. It was just that Switzerland had played better. What mattered wasn't just whether they made the shots, but when they made them. That's what they kept in mind, heading into the semifinal that afternoon.

Right from the start, they were making the shots when they needed to. With a perfect double takeout, Jennifer scored two points for her team to take an early lead, earning high-fives from her teammates. In the following end, it was the Russian skip who couldn't make a tricky double takeout, giving up a steal of one and Team Canada increased their lead. After forcing their opponents to a single, Jennifer came through for her team again with a perfect button draw to score two points, and with a blank fifth end, Canada was up 5-1 at halftime. It was a very good start, and if they kept it up, they would be into the final in no time.

In the sixth end, the Canadians set up very well, but with a precision in-off tap, the Russians scored two points and narrowed the gap. It was a single for Canada, but in the eighth, they took advantage of their opponents' mistakes and were lying three shots after Jennifer's last stone. Anna's draw to the four-foot came up just short, and it was a steal of one, and Team Jennifer Jones was up by 4 points with two ends left. In the ninth end, Jennifer was looking to take control, and with a double takeout on her last stone to leave just one stone, her shooter, in the house, Jill raised her broom and the skip pumped her fist in the air, and it was concession soon after. Team Canada was on their way to the final of the world championship.

With only one game left to go, the team finally started to realize how much this meant to them. All through the competition, they had been just thinking about the Scotties, and how fortunate they were to have won just to have the chance to represent Canada again. Now, they had a chance to stand on the top of the podium, to be world champions, and end the six-year world championship drought. The last time Canada had been world champions was when Jennifer, Jill, and Dawn had won in 2008, and now it was their chance to do it with Kaitlyn. To be Olympic champions and world champions would be incredible.

"We're into the final!" Kaitlyn exclaimed excitedly as they returned to their hotel room that night.

"Pretty exciting, huh?" Jennifer said with a smile. "I'm so proud of you girls. It hasn't been easy, and it's not about to get easier, but I think the third time's a charm."

"I thought you weren't superstitious, Jen!" Jill said jokingly, making her friends laugh.

"True," Jennifer replied, "it's going to take a lot more than luck to beat Alina, but I know we can do it."

Her teammates all felt her confidence, but they also knew that they would have to play better than they had throughout the entire competition. They were now more motivated than ever, and they would put everything on the line for the gold medal. They would do it for Canada.

* * *

Their strategy was to avoid giving up an early lead, and with a blank first end, they did just that. In the second end, though, there was a chance for Alina to draw for two points. However, her draw was heavy, and it went right through the house, and she only took one point. For Team Canada, it was an opening. The Swiss team had challenged them more than any other team throughout the championship, but they were not perfect. However, in the third end, Jennifer's hammer shot undercurled and hit and rolled too far, giving up a steal of one. With two blank ends in a row, and Switzerland's momentum picking up in the sixth end, Jennifer found her team at a 4-0 deficit going into the seventh end. She came back with two points that end, but even after stealing one in the ninth, Canada was behind by one point without hammer in the final end.

Their approach would have to be offensive. They had seen Alina make mistakes in difficult situations, so they would have to make the situation as difficult as possible. With great shots from all four members of the team, they were lying three shots before the last stone of the match, two in the top eight-foot and one biting the button, leaving only a difficult draw for Alina. Kaitlyn watched as the stone ever-so-slightly started to overcurl as it approached the house with some aggressive sweeping, ticking on one of the stones in the house, and with a final urgent effort from the sweepers, made it just far enough to make it for shot stone.

After shaking hands with their opponents, Jennifer and Kaitlyn watched Alina and her team celebrate their win. Her last experience at a world championship was at world juniors, and this time around, Kaitlyn was pretty happy with a silver medal. They may not have won, she couldn't call herself a world champion yet, but she was happy. They had played their best, and they had represented Canada well.

Jennifer was still the last Canadian skip to win at the women's world championship, and Kaitlyn had found a silver lining in her first worlds, but they all knew it wouldn't be her last. She would be back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't too happy with this chapter, but I'm pretty excited for the next one!


	8. Tragedy and Triumph

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Olympic Trials were coming around again, and a lot had changed since 2013. It was every Canadian curler's dream to win the Roar, but some would be going for mixed doubles instead. For Kaitlyn Lawes, there would be tragedy and triumph.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did not, and will not, watch the 2017 Roar, so some of this might be inaccurate. Regardless, this chapter in itself is a journey and it's pretty exciting! Also, I've realized that this isn't so much of a fanfiction as it is a non-fiction with creative license taken, but that's okay:)

**2017**

A lot had changed since Sochi for Team Jones, good and bad. In their first few seasons after their success at the Olympics, they had played better than ever, and they had ensured a spot in the Roar early on. However, after a shocking loss in the Manitoba Scotties semifinal less than a year before the trials, some people wondered if the reigning Olympic champions would stand a chance in the Roar. They were still one of the favourites, but there was some doubt.

Four years ago, the trials had taken place in the team's hometown of Winnipeg. This time, the Roar of the Rings were in Ottawa, the hometown of the other favourites for the Olympics, Team Homan. Travelling was one of the Winnipeg team's favourite things to do, but they also knew how much the home crowd had helped them by cheering them on. They wouldn't have that this time, but they would still keep pushing themselves harder for a chance to go to Korea as Team Canada.

They were incredibly excited for the week ahead of them, and a little nervous, too. They all knew that this would be the last time that they would be playing in the Roar together. Jill had already decided that she was not going to play for another four years, and they weren't sure if she would even stick around for another season, and there was nothing they wanted more than to go to another Olympics with her. No female Canadian curler had ever qualified for two Olympics, and they were trying to be the first four to do so. No one else in the women's trials had ever been to the Games, so they also had an advantage when it came to experience, though they knew how difficult it would be, even with all their experience.

Having held several team meetings back home to prepare themselves for the trials, Jennifer decided that a formal strategy session would be unnecessary, and with the whole team so closely aligned, they didn't need any sort of group pep talk, either. They were all more motivated than they had ever been, and all they needed was a few words of encouragement to get them going.

"Let's do this," Jennifer said to her team as they entered the arena for their first match of the trials.

Giving up a steal of three in the first end of their first match against Val Sweeting, the usually unfazed skip started to worry. Could she have been too confident heading into the competition, and would this be a disaster repeat of the 2009 Trials? Kaitlyn, seeing her skip's worry, went over to her to reassure her that everything would be alright.

"Sorry about that," Jennifer said, feeling bad about her mistakes early on. "Not really how we wanted to start out, I guess."

"Don't worry about it," Kaitlyn replied kindly. "It's still early, we're still getting to know the ice, and we're going to make some mistakes. We still have nine more ends to catch up."

As it turned out, they didn't even need nine more ends to catch up. Once on the receiving end of her skip's advice, Kaitlyn was now showing that she could pick up her team and help them out when they most needed it. With an impressive comeback, capped off by a steal of three in the ninth, Jennifer's team won when Val ran out of rocks in the tenth end. It had been a shaky start, but Team Jones was still worthy of the Olympics.

"That was awesome!" Kaitlyn exclaimed when the team entered the locker room after their well-fought victory. "What a great start!"

"A great start to the trials, I guess is what you mean," Jennifer said with a laugh. "Next time, let's not give up three in the first end. Especially not if it's a steal."

"The important thing is that we were able to bounce back, though," Kaitlyn reflected. "It's the Olympic trials, crazy things are going to happen, so we're definitely going to have to stay on our toes."

For the next few days, it was Kaitlyn's unending optimism and enthusiasm that built her skip's determined confidence, powering the team through three decisive wins and one very close call. They never gave up as they stole in the tenth and eleventh ends to steal their fifth consecutive win from Casey Scheidegger's team, and Team Jennifer Jones was one of two undefeated teams left in the competition. They were feeling pretty good about their team, but by the end of their next match, there would only be one undefeated team remaining.

Despite Kaitlyn's best efforts to keep her team going and to stay positive, they were making some mistakes and Chelsea Carey was making them pay. They gave up five points worth of steals in just two ends, and there was no way to catch up. Their first loss of the week was tough for all four teammates, but they were not deterred from their goal. They were no longer atop the standings, but there was still time to win their last two games.

"Remember the last time we lost at the trials?" Kaitlyn said to her team, trying to boost their spirits. "We ended up winning the rest of our games and making it to the Olympics! Losses are to be expected, but we can still win!"

Four years ago, it was Jill who had given her that advice, and now, she was reminding her whole team of it. They could still win a few more games, and maybe they could make it back to the top of the standings. All that mattered was that the Olympics were still within their reach.

However, the next day, they were at an early deficit to the underdogs in Team McCarville. They stayed positive and kept persevering in what looked to be a comeback in the latter half of the match, but with a steal of two in the ninth, Krista McCarville handed Team Jones their second consecutive loss. The second loss didn't hurt as much as the first, but it was to a team that they should have beaten, and now, the panic was starting to kick in. They were no longer safe. They were still in playoff contention, but they would have to play in a semifinal to get to the final, now. If they lost again, there was a chance they would have to play in a tiebreaker to even get to the semifinal. The journey to the Olympics was suddenly much longer.

That night and the next day, they didn't talk much as they rested and prepared themselves for their final round robin match. They really needed to pick up their momentum, and when Team Carey won their last few matches to go undefeated straight into the final, a win against Team Homan would just mean nothing except the choice of hammer in a semifinal rematch.

It wasn't a lack of incentive, but a lack of control that led to an eight-end loss to the hometown favourites, and the situation was getting pretty desperate. A bad losing streak was not the ideal way to enter a semifinal, especially not when the opponents were on a seven-game winning streak and had the whole crowd on their side.

But they would fight until the very end.

* * *

The tension on the ice was clear from the start of the semifinal. Team Jones and Team Homan were good friends off the ice, but when it came to representing Canada, they were constantly competing, and they were head-to-head in a must-win situation to keep their Olympic hopes alive. It was the reigning Olympic champions against the reigning world champions, both teams having gone undefeated in their history-making runs at the coveted events. When it came to playing, Rachel's aggressive, takeout-forward play and Jennifer's team's precise shots kept the game close, but with two points in the fifth end, it was the young hometown team that had the advantage. With a steal in the seventh, they increased their lead, and the situation was desperate for the reigning Olympic champions, unable to generate offence and on the brink of elimination.

It came down to the very last rock in the tenth end, but Rachel made no mistake and avoided giving up a steal of two, taking a 6-3 win to advance to the Roar of the Rings final in her hometown, the crowd cheering her on. The opponents shook hands in a sign of sportsmanship and friendship, and Jennifer hugged Rachel before the victorious hometown team celebrated, and the reigning Olympic champions would not be able to defend their title.

It was a disappointing way to end the trials, but they had put up a valiant effort and never given up, and they were genuinely happy for Team Homan. Jennifer had always believed in the younger generation of Canadian curlers, and if there was any team other than her own that she wanted to see at the Olympics, it was them. Both they and Team Carey deserved the title of Team Canada.

It was time for a new team to take over.

* * *

Exactly a week later, on December 16, Kaitlyn was celebrating her birthday back home in Winnipeg. Curling was still on her mind, though, and after she had recovered from the disappointment of losing out in the Roar, she was looking forward to the Manitoba Scotties and hoped that her team could return to the national Scotties after missing out the previous year. Her teammates Jennifer and Dawn were also looking forward to the mixed doubles Olympic trials. Dawn would be competing with Mike, who had lost in the men's final of the Roar, having been beaten by Kevin Koe's team, which included Brent Laing.

Jennifer and Brent had qualified for the mixed doubles trials together, but as he had qualified for the men's team, his wife, along with the four men whose teammates were from Team Homan, were searching for teammates. Kaitlyn had supported her two teammates still with Olympic hopes, excited for the chance for one of her best friends to return to the Olympics. If they couldn't all go together, at least one of them could.

She was out for dinner with her friends and family, celebrating her birthday, when her phone rang. She glanced at it and saw that it was one of her best friends, an Olympic gold medallist himself, John Morris. She would have ignored the call, when she realized that her birthday was his as well, and she excused herself as she went to a quiet corner to receive the call.

"Happy birthday, John!" she exclaimed as she picked up the phone, just as he said, "Happy birthday, Kaitlyn!"

Exactly ten years of age apart, the two good friends laughed as they celebrated their special day.

"What's up, John?" Kaitlyn asked. "Anything special you're doing today?"

"Just hanging out," he replied, then nonchalantly, "hey, do you want to be my mixed doubles partner for the trials?"

Kaitlyn remembered that his original mixed doubles partner, Rachel Homan, had skipped her team to victory in the Roar, and now he needed a replacement. She didn't hesitate as she replied, "You bet!"

She had played mixed doubles quite a bit in the past, with several different partners. Recently, she had played with Ryan Fry and Marc Kennedy, but neither of her pairs had qualified for the trials. She had, though, played mixed doubles with John in two Continental Cups in the past, and she knew how passionate he was about the new discipline. Their first time playing together was in 2013, and they had become instant friends when John had playfully pressured her into performing her first spin-o-rama. She had also played in the past with Jeff Stoughton, the pioneer of the famous trick shot, who was also the national mixed doubles coach who was organizing the trials ahead of them.

"Awesome!" John exclaimed, his deep voice booming in her ear and causing her to laugh. "I'll talk to Jeff, then we better get a practice in before the trials! See you then!"

"Thanks, John, I can't wait!"

Just like that, Kaitlyn Lawes was back on the hunt for another shot at the Olympics.

* * *

**2018**

After one thirty-minute practice, Kaitlyn and John suddenly found themselves in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, where the mixed doubles Olympic trials were about to start. Some of the teams there had been Canada's national mixed doubles champions for years, and others were prolific four-player team curlers like them, who had come together just for another chance at the Olympics.

At the start, Kaitlyn's biggest challenge was getting out of the mindset of being on a team with the three women who had been her best friends for so long. Although no longer technically on the same team, they were still a team at the trials, and it would always be that way. If they couldn't all go to PyeongChang together, their hope was that one of them could.

Since Kaitlyn had entered the trials with John, Jennifer had found a new partner in 2006 Olympic gold medallist Mark Nichols. The two duos were made up of just Olympic gold medalists, Kaitlyn and John having never lost a game in the Olympics before. They had been the thirds on the only two teams ever to go undefeated in the Olympics.

Jill had teamed up with Kaitlyn's friend and mixed doubles world silver medallist Reid Carruthers, and with the McEwens having entered together, all four members of Team Jones were back, each trying to be the first Canadian curler ever to qualify for consecutive Olympic Games.

When they found out their draw schedule at the start of the trials, Kaitlyn was relieved to see that Jennifer, Jill, and Dawn's teams were all in one round robin pool, while she was in the other. She wouldn't have to beat any of her teammates, at least not in the round robin. She would get to watch them all play against each other, and she knew it would be an interesting experience that she was more than happy just to observe. She couldn't imagine trying to beat her teammates to get to the Olympics without them.

Kaitlyn and John were not playing in the very first draw of the competition, but they knew they couldn't miss it. The McEwens would be playing, and so would Jennifer and Mark. As they watched and cheered on their friends, Kaitlyn noticed how her usual teammates were doing in a discipline they did not specialize in. Firstly, while her skip and partner, the other golden duo in the competition, were both incredible shot-makers, Jennifer, who had been a skip since her first season in the bantam league, struggled to sweep more than a few of her partner's rocks. Despite this, she watched the skilled duo out-shoot their opponents and take the win. On the other hand, she observed the world-class skip and lead in the McEwens suffer from a mismatch in skills, leading to their first loss.

John was currently a skip, but he was most famous for playing at third. As Kaitlyn reflected on the teams that she had just seen compete, she considered the advantage of being a team of two successful thirds. At their position in the four-player lineup, they knew their strategy but they also knew how to sweep, and they were excellent shot-makers and line callers. With two people in mixed doubles, it was important that each player was versatile, and she knew that would be an advantage they would have over their opponents.

Less than an hour later, Kaitlyn and John were taking on Dana Ferguson and Brendan Bottcher in their first round robin game. They had the upper hand when it came to shot-making, and relied on that to get themselves an early lead. After four ends, at the halftime break in the eight-end discipline, they had a solid advantage with a 4-2 lead. In the latter half of the game, in order to preserve their lead, John started to become more cautious, but Kaitlyn soon realized that defensive play was nearly impossible in mixed doubles. They looked for opportunities to keep the four-foot open, but with the pre-positioned centre guard, they struggled and didn't manage to score a single point in the rest of the match, losing 8-4.

From all of the shooting, sweeping, and fast-paced game, they were exhausted, and it would only be a few hours before they would have to play again. The Roar was tiring, but Kaitlyn could tell that the mixed doubles trials would be a test of mental and physical strength unlike any other. She and John needed to stay positive as they tried to improve, and quickly. Because of the urgency of the situation, they held a team meeting over lunch. Ordinarily, they wouldn't have wanted to have to talk about their losses and mistakes in the middle of a competition, but if they couldn't improve before the end of the day, their Olympic dreams would vanish quickly.

"Okay, so that wasn't the best way to start off," John said, obviously disappointed.

"Yeah, but we have seven more games before eliminations." Kaitlyn reminded him. "We started off today well, but what happened?"

"I guess we weren't calling the right shots," he suggested. "Mixed doubles is all about offence, and we definitely made a mistake with the defence."

"We can't overthink ourselves," she added, "we haven't played too much together, but I know you're a great curler and I sure hope you think the same about me."

"You're spectacular," he affirmed, and she smiled. "I have complete confidence in your abilities."

"And so do I," she replied, "so let's just trust each other, and we can keep having these discussions after each game. We're pretty great shot-makers, so let's just make the great shots and play offensively."

"Good idea," he agreed. "I have to admit that I'm the first to overthink everything, but I trust you. Just call the shots when I start to overthink."

"You can do the same for me, but I overthink everything, too," she admitted. "We'll have to work on that, but let's just go out there and have fun. Remember the Continental Cup? Pretend we're there. We're going to have a ton of fun, and I think we can win."

"Me too, Kaitlyn." he said with a smile, high-fiving his teammate. "Let's do this."

* * *

That afternoon, Kaitlyn was feeling pretty emotional for her friends in the other round robin pool, as Jill and Reid beat Jennifer and Mark. Jill and Jennifer had been teammates for so long, and it had been nearly two decades since they had really competed against each other, and it was sportsmanship and friendship the whole way as one team had to win, and it turned out to be Jill and Reid. Dawn and Mike had also lost their second straight match, and Kaitlyn was hoping that the same wouldn't happen to her and John.

Facing one of the less-decorated but not-to-be overlooked teams, Marliese Kasner and Dustin Kalthoff, who had played a big part in qualifying Canada for the Olympics in mixed doubles, the talented thirds still struggled a bit to communicate effectively, but they trusted each other and tried not to overthink, picking up a close win to stay in the race. The Olympians were feeling better, and with one more match that day, they were hoping to finish off the first day of the trials in a winning way.

Before they went on the ice to compete against Sherry Middaugh and John Epping, Kaitlyn's positivity further increased as Dawn, Jill, and Jennifer's teams each won in their three separate matches. Her refreshed energy reflected on her and John's play that night, and they were unstoppable. They communicated well, bounced back from mistakes, and had more fun than they'd had in a long time to pick up a win, 11-2, in only six ends. It boosted their confidence in themselves and each other, and they didn't need to talk much before going to sleep happy that night.

The next morning, they finally had a break from the exhausting schedule of the trials, but Kaitlyn didn't stop from cheering on her friends. Dawn and Mike's second win to put them back in contention came against Jill and Reid, but that afternoon, she had to worry about her own round robin pool. Val Sweeting and Brad Gushue were two of the best skips in the game, and although they were still finding their way as a mixed doubles team, they were excellent shot-makers and tough opponents.

As soon as the game started, Kaitlyn had to admit that it was a little nerve-wracking to play against two of the best skips in the game, who were pretty fierce sweepers, too. She tried her best to treat it like any other game against any other opponents, but she and John were once again overthinking their shots and couldn't keep up with the impeccable offensive strategy of the duo of skips. With that loss, they didn't have much time before they had to face one of the best teams in their round robin pool, the undefeated duo of Laura Crocker and Geoff Walker. Kaitlyn was good friends with Laura, and knew what a great team she and her fiancé were.

There was not a lot of time to discuss what they could improve, but they knew that they would have to stay offensive. They did just that, and their communication was outstanding as they took a 10-7 lead going into the eighth end. They were pretty confident, and didn't start off the end too badly, but with play concentrated in the four-foot, Geoff made three great shots in between a few slight mistakes from John, and somehow Laura made a precise draw to score four points and take the win. Kaitlyn and John had felt so confident, about to take down the undefeated duo, but anything could happen in mixed doubles and they were feeling the harsh reality of it. One miss could cost them the match, and they had just learned that.

That night, before they went to their rooms to sleep, it was Kaitlyn who suggested talking about their tough loss, in hopes of regaining their confidence before the last day of vital round robin competition.

"Sorry, Kaitlyn," John told her, feeling awful about his mistakes in the final end. "I really messed that up for us."

"Hey, don't worry about it," she replied, "we're a team, and everyone makes mistakes. I still trust you. You're one of the best shooters in this whole field, and we were just unlucky there."

"Yeah, it's brutal what can happen in mixed doubles. Two wins and three losses, we'd better pick it up tomorrow." He spoke the truth. "If we're lucky, by tomorrow night, we'll still be in the running. If not, I want to tell you that I've had so much fun playing with you. Maybe we can play in some more Continental Cups in the future."

"I hope so!" she replied, sensing that they were both feeling a little better. "For now, though, we still have a shot at playing in the Olympics together. We're going to be making some mistakes, but we'll take it one game at a time."

"Good plan," he agreed. "One game at a time, then we're going to Korea, baby!"

"Kaitlyn Lawes and John Morris, two-time Olympians." Kaitlyn said, "I like the sound of that. But if it doesn't happen, I've had the best time here with you. And I promise, if we fall out of contention before our last game, I'll do some spin-o-ramas for you."

"Yes!" he exclaimed, punching his fist in the air. "Now, remember, that's a promise!"

They both laughed, no longer feeling disappointed about their losses. Kaitlyn's biggest strength off the ice was bringing unending positivity to her teammates, and the promise of spin-o-ramas would allow them to have fun even if they ended up being eliminated. Jeff Stoughton, the organizer of the national mixed doubles program and trials, had invented the trick shot, and John had convinced Kaitlyn to do her first, during their first match playing mixed doubles together. It was very fitting.

* * *

The next morning, they knew that a single loss could mean elimination. They fought hard against Chelsea Carey and Colin Hodgson, but Kaitlyn and John gave it their all and took the win with a steal in the extra end.

They were feeling better about their communication and were really starting to trust each other, but their work was far from done. During their lunch break, they decided to discuss how things were going. They had talked after every match, and it was helping them get to know each other and it translated to improvement on the ice.

"Nice shooting today, Kaitlyn!" John complimented his partner. "That was a pretty close game."

"Well, we won, so that's all that matters," she pointed out. "But we have a pretty tough game ahead of us."

He nodded, knowing that their opponents would be Kalynn Park and Charley Thomas, one of the few longstanding mixed doubles teams in Canada. They had been to worlds before, and they were definitely a great team.

"They have great team chemistry, but so do we," he told his partner. "We've also been making pretty great shots. I feel like we've been more aligned on strategy these past few games."

"Yeah, we think alike," she agreed. "Let's just trust our gut. We've been calling the right shots when we trust each other. We never disagree when we just go with the first shot we see."

"That's true," he reflected. "Okay, let's keep doing that. We can do this!"

They fist-bumped, feeling more confident about their chances at advancing to the round of 8 with each win. Anything could happen, but they could still make it to the Olympics. As teams were falling out of contention, they were still hanging in there.

That afternoon, Kaitlyn watched with mixed feelings as Jennifer and Mark took down Dawn and Mike, eliminating all chances of the McEwens playing in the double-knockout round and dashing their Olympic hopes, while Jill and Reid won to put themselves at a strong 5-2 record. When it was time for her to play, she was focused back on herself and John, and they stuck to their plan against the former national mixed doubles champions. Kalynn and Charley fought hard, but the two Olympic gold medallists used their shot-making skills and had no trouble with communication as they took a close win, 5-4, with one game left before the round of 8.

That night, they needed a win for Kaitlyn to guarantee a spot in the round of 8 with John, alongside her teammates Jennifer and Jill, whose teams had qualified in their round robin pool. Facing the winless duo of Nicole Westlund-Stewart and Tyler Stewart, they easily won in just six ends, propelling themselves into the round of 8 riding on a 3-game win streak. They were the fifth seed, behind the undefeated duos of Jocelyn Peterman and Brett Gallant, and Laura Crocker and Geoff Walker. Jennifer and Mark, as well as Dana Ferguson and Brendan Bottcher, had gone through the round robin with 6-2 records, putting them at the third and fourth seeds. Rounding out the field were Jill and Reid, Val Sweeting and Brad Gushue, and Chelsea Carey and Colin Hodgson.

The morning before their first double-knockout round of 8 match, John suggested having a discussion about their approach to the round ahead of them. All they had to do in the round of 8 was to win two games before they lost two, and they would be into the page playoffs. If they won two consecutive games, they would be straight into the 1 vs. 2 playoff, otherwise, they would have to play in the B bracket for a chance at the 3 vs. 4 playoff.

"So, we've been on a roll," John said. "What do you think has been going right?"

"Our communication's been getting better," Kaitlyn replied, "and we're not second-guessing ourselves anymore. We're both great shot-makers, and now that our team dynamic is getting going, we've been doing really well."

"So let's keep it going!" he said enthusiastically, high-fiving his partner. "Dana and Brendan beat us before, but we've gotten a whole lot better since then. Let's do this!"

That afternoon, their first double-knockout match was not without mistakes, but Kaitlyn's optimism never wavered and kept John determined as they broke through in the final four ends to advance into the second stage of the A bracket, where they would have to try to defeat the undefeated power couple of Jocelyn Peterman and Brett Gallant. The other undefeated duo of Laura Crocker and Geoff Walker were defeated by Val and Brad, so they would have to play in the B bracket. Kaitlyn also watched as Jennifer and Mark knocked Jill and Reid into the B bracket, an emotional match for the two longtime teammates.

Her perspective on the trials had shifted subtly, though. At the start, Kaitlyn's goal had been to play well, improve her skills, and hope that maybe the McEwens or Jennifer would make it to the Olympics. Now, though, she and John had just as great of a chance as Jennifer and Mark to win the whole thing, and although she wanted her usual teammates to do well, she and John were a team, too, and she wanted to win more than anything. It would be great if one of her teammates could go to the Olympics, but it would be even better if she could.

Facing Jocelyn and Brett in the second round of the double-knockout stages, the match got off to a rough start when Kaitlyn and John each made a few mistakes, while their opponents set up perfectly, but both teams were very good shot-makers and John was the first to make a highlight reel-worthy shot with a triple takeout to clean things up, setting up for a steal of one. Brett came back with a few excellent shots of his own in the two ends that followed, scoring one point for his team in the second end and stealing one in the third. John and Kaitlyn worked together to score two points going into the halftime break, and they were ahead, 3-2, looking to defeat the undefeated duo.

In the fifth end, it was looking like trouble again, but John once again made an insane triple takeout that actually knocked out a fourth rock, and their opponents could only score one point. They weren't huge fans of the power play, where the pre-positioned stones were moved off to the side, but Kaitlyn and John decided to use it against such fierce opponents, in hopes of scoring a big end. After a few rocks, they trusted their gut and called a pretty crazy shot for John, trying to set up for the big score. Kaitlyn swept perfectly and they executed a very difficult raise double takeout, and their opponents could do nothing as they scored three points.

In the seventh end, Jocelyn and Brett decided to use their power play because they were down by three points. John missed a nearly impossible angle raise takeout, but he made up for it with a difficult thin, cross-house double on his next stone. In the end, Jocelyn made a nice triple takeout to score two points, but it was the double Olympic gold medallist duo that held the lead going into the final end, where they made a few mistakes, and after Jocelyn's final stone, the undefeated duo were lying three shots, leaving Kaitlyn only a difficult draw through the port. After years of training her precision with the most precise skip in the women's game, she made the shot successfully, booking them a spot in the 1 vs. 2 playoff against Val Sweeting and Brad Gushue.

John hugged his partner, congratulating each other on their success. They had defeated the undefeated team, and suddenly, they were two teams away from going to the Olympics again. With the knockout rounds still continuing, it was hard to believe that they were really so close, but less than twenty-four hours later, there would only be three teams left in the competition. It would be themselves, Val and Brad, and whichever team would emerge victorious from the B bracket and 3 vs. 4 playoff. And, less than forty-eight hours later, there would be a team ready to go to PyeongChang.

* * *

"Two games away from the Olympics!" John exclaimed as he met up with his teammate in the morning.

"If we win," Kaitlyn amended, reminding him not to get too confident. "It is pretty exciting, though."

"I guess we should discuss our approach to the playoffs, but we should just keep doing what we've been doing and we should be good, right?" he said.

"I agree, we don't need to change anything if we're doing things right." she pointed out. "Val and Brad are tough competitors, but just because they beat us before doesn't mean we can't beat them this time. We just have to stay offensive and make some great shots."

"Sounds like a plan," he said, fist-bumping his partner. "Let's get this win, then we can chill and watch the semifinal."

They both smiled, realizing how close they were to making the Olympics for the second time. Then, Kaitlyn remembered what teams were left.

"Oh man, I hope we don't have to play against Jen," she muttered softly to herself.

"What's that?" John asked, not hearing her words completely.

"I hope we don't have to play against Jen in the final," she told him. "Or the semifinal, if we lose. Gosh, that would be even worse."

"Aw, that's tough," he said sympathetically. "Let's just take it one game at a time, and if it gets to that point, I'm not gonna lie, it'll be tough."

John understood exactly how his teammate felt. Playing against your skip, one of your best friends, was one of the most emotionally tolling games you could play, especially in an Olympic trials semifinal. He had done just that at the Roar in 2013, taking down his Olympic skip, Kevin Martin. He was happy to win, but it was bittersweet, because it was never fun to beat your friend.

"Yeah, let's just worry about Val and Brad for now," Kaitlyn decided. "A break before the final would be nice."

They needed to work for that break, though, and from the start of the playoff, it looked like trouble. However, Brad and Val were not perfect and could only take one point in the first end. However, John made some great shots in the second, and when Val made a mistake, Kaitlyn was able to make a precise draw to score three points, and they were in the lead. The two teams traded singles, and Kaitlyn and John were ahead, 4-2 by halftime, feeling pretty good about themselves. After halftime, John was struggling with his shots, and Kaitlyn had to make a draw against four to score. Disastrously, she missed, and the same happened in the following end, leading to their opponents stealing four and two points in each of those ends. Making mistakes again in the seventh end, they gave up another steal of just one, but they were down by 5 points, and it didn't take long for them to concede.

Just like that, their win streak was snapped, and it was the two skips, not the two thirds, who were into the final of the Olympic trials. Kaitlyn and John would once again have to face Jocelyn and Brett, who had climbed their way up to the semifinal after beating Jennifer and Mark in the 3 vs. 4 playoff.

Kaitlyn no longer had to worry about having to face her skip, but now Jennifer, Jill, and Dawn would be counting on her to be the first Canadian curler to make it to consecutive Olympic Games. She and John would have to win twice if she wanted to make history again, and she wanted to make her team proud.

If she wanted to do that, though, they were going to have to improve. Jocelyn and Brett had won 11 games and lost only one through the competition. Kaitlyn and John had inflicted that loss, but the power couple was out for revenge, and they would play their absolute best. Despite feeling disappointed, Kaitlyn knew it was important to talk to her teammate ahead of the semifinal.

"Ready to win?" she said simply as they sat down together.

"You bet!" His competitiveness triumphed over his disappointment. "It's won't be easy, though."

"We beat Jocelyn and Brett once," she pointed out, "I think we can do it again."

"You know we can!" he replied enthusiastically. "We need to make the shots this time, though."

He was referring to their many misses in their most recent playoff loss. A few missed key shots led to their opponents scoring several points in ends that they shouldn't have, and that was what led to the disastrous defeat.

"I'm sorry about that," she apologized. "Draw weight wasn't really too consistent. In a way, I guess, the semifinal will help me with that. More ice time, but hopefully I won't mess up too much."

"Hey, don't worry about it," he reassured her. "It wasn't your fault. I got you into most of those situations. I'll try to set things up better for you. I guess that should be our strategy. Don't be too risky, and save the last shot for something lower-risk. That way, we can't give up as many points. We might not score as much, but we won't give up as much."

"Good idea," she replied. "We can do this! We can win this, then we'll get to the final! We're so close!"

"We're going to Korea, baby!" he exclaimed, and they laughed, feeling more optimistic heading into the semifinal.

They high-fived each other, and in that moment of enthusiasm and optimism, they knew they could do it.

* * *

Both teams ready to do anything to win, the semifinal started off uncertainly. The rocks piled up in the four-foot, many frozen and unable to be moved, and it was Kaitlyn and John who had the upper hand in the game of draw weights and sweeping, scoring two points to take an early lead. In a similar situation in the following end, it was their opponents who scored a single point. However, in the third end, Jocelyn missed her first stone, allowing Kaitlyn and John to capitalize, and although Brett did his best, when she missed her last stone, it was the duo of gold medallists that scored two points. Their opponents came back with a point in the fourth, but they were up 4-2 by halftime, an advantage that they would have to work to keep.

"Nice work," John said to his partner as they took a short break.

"Thanks, same to you," Kaitlyn replied, "let's try to open things up now. Still keep it offensive, but I think we should play more hits. You're great at those, and maybe you can get an advantage over Brett."

"Will do," he said, "and you keep doing what you're doing. You're doing great."

They high-fived before walking back out onto the ice, ready to play the second half with a new approach. Usually spectacular at hits, John made a mistake by picking his own rock instead of his opponents', but he got out of trouble with a runback double peel to open up the four-foot. It had looked like a steal situation for the Peterman/Gallant duo, but now Kaitlyn had a chance to score two points if she could make a tricky double takeout. The stone sailed down the ice, and when it connected with the first rock, she called for her partner to sweep the second rock out of the house. The shooter tapped the second rock, sending it slowly toward the outside rings.

"John! Hard!" Kaitlyn called, urging him to sweep, but he was too slow and the rock came to a rest.

She shook her head, slightly annoyed at the miscommunication, but their opponents' rock had moved far enough for her to score the two points. When she saw this, she smiled, but once again reminded her partner that he needed to stay active on the sweeping. This was the only fault she could ever find in him, that he wasn't always ready to sweep when he needed to. It got them in trouble sometimes, but with a four-point lead, they were looking good.

In the sixth end, their opponents opted to use their power play in hopes of catching up. They weren't quite sure how to counter this, but they knew that they would have to make some pretty crazy shots. The first of these was an incredibly difficult long angle raise takeout that John had attempted in their previous match against the same duo, during their power play, and like last time, he missed the shot. However, he again made up for his mistake with an impressive double takeout to lie shot stone, with only one of their opponents' stones in the house. Somehow, the power play wasn't looking so useful. On Kaitlyn's last stone, she chose to make a double takeout, attempting to eliminate Brett's frozen stone from an angle. It was a risky play, but with a heavy weight, she released the stone and jumped up, wobbling as she chased her stone down the ice and swept it, all the while trying not to fall down with her slider still on her foot. She nearly fell, but she swept it cleanly and let out a laugh of joy and relief as she eliminated both of her opponents' stones in the house, forcing Jocelyn just to draw for a single point and lose the power play advantage.

"Nice shot," John congratulated her as they prepared for the next end.

"Thanks," she replied, out of breath, "From now on, you should sweep my takeouts. And I can do yours."

They laughed, feeling happy about their three-point lead and hammer going into the seventh end. However, Kaitlyn's draw weight was still suffering a little, and she missed her first shot. Because of this, the rocks started piling up again, but John was able to maintain control, and she threw away her last stone, no shot available, and still scored a single point, taking a four-point lead going into the final end without hammer. It should have been easy, but anything could happen in mixed doubles, and after Brett's last stone, his team had four shot stones and Kaitlyn found herself with her final stone, needing to get rid of at least one stone in the house in order to not give up five points. She had, in the past, suffered badly under pressure, but her hits had been perfect throughout the game, and with an impressive double takeout, she ran her opponents out of rocks, propelling herself and John into the final of the Olympic trials.

They shook hands with their friends, congratulating them on a great run, then shared a high-five with smiles as they were one game away from becoming two-time Olympians. Kaitlyn raised her broom to the crowd, who gave them a standing ovation, and waved at her friends and family, who had believed in her the whole time. They had been on the brink of elimination after five round robin matches, and now they were eight ends away from a ticket to Korea. They had made it to the final against all odds, but maybe it was always meant to be.

* * *

The next morning, Kaitlyn and John woke up to the realization that they were one win away from making it to the Olympics. Val Sweeting and Brad Gushue were fierce competitors, having defeated them twice already in the trials, and they were hoping that the third time would be the charm.

"One more win," Kaitlyn said happily as they met before their match in the afternoon.

"We really have to step it up, though," John pointed out, "we haven't beaten Brad and Val at all yet."

"Yeah, I really messed up the last time," she said, "we should follow our strategy from yesterday. We won, and I think it worked really well."

"Sounds like a plan," he replied. "I'll keep the hits going and hopefully Brad won't outshoot me too much. With any luck, I won't let you have to make any pressure draws."

On a four-player team with the best drawing skip in the world, Kaitlyn's skills on hits were often overlooked. She loved to throw the hard weights, and she could throw them well, and with John, they were able to send the rocks flying every time, and she loved it. There was nothing better than making a great takeout, especially in mixed doubles, where chances were that you could make contact with a lot of rocks.

"Let's do this!" she exclaimed enthusiastically, high-fiving her partner.

"We're going to Korea, baby!" he said, repeating what had become his slogan over the last few days.

They laughed, easing their nerves. This would be the most important match they had ever played together, and perhaps the most important match either of them had played in a long time. They were nervous, of course, but also incredibly determined. They had bounced back time and time again, and they had survived, and all they had to do was take down this rematch, and they would be off to the Olympics. It was pretty spectacular.

Rarely fazed by their nerves, Kaitlyn and John struggled uncharacteristically in the first end of the all-important match. John made slight misses on all three of his shots, being light on the draw, pushing their opponents' rock behind a guard well-buried, and overcurling to miss on a key shot, leaving two of Val and Brad's rocks still buried. However, Kaitlyn saved them and forced Val just to settle for a single point, and John had to thank his teammate for getting them out of a disastrous situation.

In the second end, Kaitlyn threw her first rock as her partner swept with all his might, and nearing the house, he slipped and nearly fell, but avoided burning the rock and recovered as they both laughed. He missed his first shot, but with his second, Kaitlyn swept his takeout with all her might and John made up for his previous mistakes because they were now lying shot stone with only one of their opponents' rocks in the way of lying three more shots. With his final shot, he left them lying two shots with shots four and five, but Val, always precise, made a great shot to force Kaitlyn to take a single point, and the score was tied.

In the following end, it was Kaitlyn who was making mistakes, with her first rock being too light. They were in a pretty good situation after John's last rock, but she was heavy on the draw this time, and it was disastrous as it provided backing for Val to draw right to the button, scoring two points and taking a two-point lead.

In the fourth end, things were looking up, but after John's last shot, they were lying three shots. Ordinarily, this would be a good thing, but he had left a pocket open for Val to draw into, which would leave no shot for Kaitlyn and give up a steal of one. However, Val made a huge mistake and couldn't draw into the pocket, and Kaitlyn was the one to make a successful draw and take a game-changing four points. Now, it was her team who had the two-point lead, and going into halftime, they were feeling pretty good.

"That was almost a disaster," John said, "Nice job, though."

"Thanks, and same to you!" she replied, feeling more positive now that they were more in control. "We have to sharpen up now, though. We can't let them catch up."

They both remembered how they had blown an early two-point lead very quickly the last time they had faced the two skips, and they definitely weren't going to let it happen again.

"Okay, let's do this!" he said enthusiastically. "Let's win this! We're going to Korea, baby!"

They laughed as they stepped back out onto the ice, and the positivity seemed to help them, as John took command and set up perfectly for a steal of two, and they had a four-point lead as their opponents decided to use their power play, desperate to catch up. The offensive advantage seemed like it would work out perfectly when John missed his first shot, and he couldn't make a double takeout on his last shot, leaving them in a tough situation. It looked like Val and Brad had a chance to catch up, but if they did, there could be no chance of making a comeback. If there were no steals, their opponents would have the hammer in the final end, and that would be the difference in a close match.

However, Kaitlyn came to the rescue again with a double takeout to force their opponents to just two points, and it would be considered a success, when it could have been so much worse. They still maintained a two-point lead, and opted not to use their power play in what could be their last end with the hammer. In the seventh, the rocks started crowding around the house, and when John attempted a runback, he took out one of their opponents' stones, but also his own shot stone, and even with a successful double takeout on his final stone, they weren't out of trouble as Kaitlyn missed a difficult double takeout and gave up a steal of one.

It wasn't the worst situation, but definitely not a comfortable one. They had a one-point lead going into the final end with hammer. In traditional four-player curling, that would be a great situation, but mixed doubles was designed for steals and anything could happen. Although they didn't really like it, they decided to use their power play for their best chance to not give up a steal.

It was never over until it was over, and when Kaitlyn wasted her stone on an unsuccessful tick shot, Brad started assembling the centre guards to set up for a steal. This time, it was John who saved the team, making a double takeout to clear two guards, but their opponents had done a great job with setting up. With his final stone, he made a successful come-around control weight hit to lie two shots, and it was time for Val's last stone. With Brad's help, she decided on a double takeout to lie shot stone, hoping that Kaitlyn would miss her last shot. However, when her stone hit the first rock, it spun off at too steep of an angle and didn't connect with the second stone, instead sliding out of the house and costing her a chance at the Olympics.

It had happened so fast, but the two teams shook hands and the defeated skips left the ice as the victorious thirds turned to face each other and each pumped their fists in the air. John, in his excitement, hugged Kaitlyn and picked her up right off the ice, high in the air in celebration, and Kaitlyn remembered the same feeling of being lifted off the ground by him as they had celebrated a win three years ago, when they had played together in the Continental Cup. They had come a long way since then, but some things would never change, like the exhilaration and joy of winning at the Olympic trials.

"We're going to Korea, baby!" John exclaimed, his statement finally a reality, as he put his partner back down on the ground and high-fived her.

They waved to the crowd, who gave them a standing ovation, and Kaitlyn saw her mom run out with the Canadian flag, and she rushed over to share a hug with her biggest supporter. Cheryl, who was in tears, embraced her daughter with the flag, and Kaitlyn felt tears entering her eyes, too. Her journey in mixed doubles had been short, yet it had been years in the making.

John joined them in their hug, then Kaitlyn walked out to wave to the crowd as her mom jumped up and down and continued to hug John. She handed the flag over to the victorious duo, soon to be two-time Olympians, and Canada's first mixed doubles Olympic team. Kaitlyn handed the flag over to her partner, who posed gladly for pictures, while she picked up her phone to FaceTime her boyfriend Stephan, who was in Norway but had cheered her on the whole way. With every celebration, she was closer to tears, and finally seeing all of the people she loved and had supported her, she let a few tears of joy fall from her eyes.

Without several thousand people in the crowd or four teammates, it felt a little different walking down the ice, but Kaitlyn and John held the Canadian flag proudly as they walked down the ice and waved to their fans as "We are the Champions" played loudly from the arena speakers. Kaitlyn was first to receive her Team Canada jacket, and she wore it proudly and happily. As they received their medals, it was an experience that she had never felt before. For the last eight years, every medal, every trophy, that she had earned was as a third. She was always second-in-command in a team of four, and she didn't mind it, but standing with John, they were equals and had both led their team to success. She had grown so much in eight years, and although it wasn't her main discipline, winning in mixed doubles was something she was incredibly proud of, maybe more proud than winning the Roar. It didn't have as much of a sentimental connection, having only played with John for a week instead of four years, but she had contributed a big part to their success and she was proud of it.

Only a month ago, John and his team had just been eliminated from playoff contention in the Roar of the Rings, and Kaitlyn had still been chasing her Olympic dreams with her team, and it had been for a short period of time that those dreams had vanished. Now, she and John were two of only five Canadian curlers ever to qualify for two Olympic Games. All four members of Kevin Martin's golden team had done it, and they were Kevin himself, John, Ben Hebert, and Marc Kennedy, the latter two joining Kevin Koe on the men's team. But it was Kaitlyn who had made history as the first Canadian curler to qualify for two consecutive Olympic Games, and the first female Canadian curler to qualify for two Olympic Games, not to mention being the youngest Canadian curler to qualify for two Olympics. There were countless other records she had set in her career, which was still far from over.

The most important thing, though, was that she was returning to the Olympics. Kaitlyn Lawes and John Morris were now two-time Olympians, and maybe they were always meant to be a team. It had all started on their birthday, less than a month ago, when only John would have believed that they would be "going to Korea, baby!"

And that was exactly what they were going to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It got a bit more descriptive than I wanted it to, but it still turned out okay! They're going to Korea, baby!


	9. Making History

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It had not even been nine years since she ended her junior career, yet Kaitlyn Lawes was on the hunt for a second Olympic gold medal. She would never have guessed it would be in mixed doubles, but she was in PyeongChang, making history.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With every chapter, this is getting closer to the present than the past, closer to fact than fiction. Technically this is the last chapter, because the last one is going to be a sort of epilogue. So this is the culmination, it started from juniors and it's going to end in PyeongChang! If anyone reads this, this the final chapter of my tribute to Kaitlyn Lawes, and it's been a great adventure!

The weeks leading up to the Olympics were more hectic than ever. Kaitlyn rejoined her team to win the Manitoba Scotties, something they would never take for granted again. The lead-up to PyeongChang was a little bittersweet, as she would then be unable to join her teammates at the national Scotties and she wouldn't be looking for only her second career Scotties title.

Maybe she was reluctant to go off on a curling adventure without her best friends of eight years, but after the initial excitement wore off, she wondered if she could ever grow to regret the upcoming trip to Korea. It was the Olympics, she should have been overjoyed, and she felt bad as she wondered,  _should I have stuck with my team?_

After all, mixed doubles was making its Olympic debut, and a lot could go wrong. What if they didn't win a single match? Their opponents had lifetimes of experience playing mixed doubles, and several world champions among them. The experience wouldn't be all that great if they couldn't even get a single win, and surely she would then resent missing the Scotties.

She felt bad about thinking of her four-player team before herself and John, especially with the Olympics up ahead. It didn't help that John was beyond excited, and all she knew was that she was going to miss her friends. She had only confessed her doubts to Jennifer, who had been the most supportive and understanding friend she ever knew. The Olympics were the chance of a lifetime, her skip had reminded her, and she would be the first female Canadian curler ever to go twice. No matter what happened, her team would be proud of her.

All of those doubts went away when she boarded the plane to Seoul with John, the legendary Jeff Stoughton, their coach; Kyle, the Mental Performance Consultant; and Paul, the Team Leader. As the plane took off for a long flight, she knew that this would be the adventure of a lifetime with her new friends. After all, she was going to the Olympics! Nothing was better than that.

After a few days in Seoul, they arrived in the Athletes' Village. As soon as they walked in, Kaitlyn was flooded with a sense of nostalgia and happiness. She had been on top of the world since her team, with Shannon Birchard as her replacement, had won the Scotties. She would be going back to worlds, but more importantly, she was happy that her teammates were feeling a bit of the joy that she got when she arrived in Korea.

A few days after they arrived in the Olympic Village, they had a practice session in the Gangneung Curling Centre. As soon as they entered, Kaitlyn was overwhelmed with a feeling of déjà vu, a sense of exhilaration and excitement that she had only felt in Sochi, and in that moment, she knew she was going to return to the Olympics. She looked over at John and Jeff, who seemed equally as excited.

After warming up, the duo and their coach stepped onto the ice, and the two returning Olympians felt right at home as Jeff helped them get used to the ice and practice their shots. This time, no one fell during their delivery, and it didn't take long for them to feel right at home sliding over the Olympic Rings. Jeff held the broom as they practiced throwing rocks, and all three of them were having a lot of fun.

"Hey, Kaitlyn!" John called as they took a quick break for water. "Remember what you promised me at the trials?"

"What?" she and Jeff said at the same time.

"No, what did I promise you?" she asked her partner.

"You promised me that if we lost, you would-"

She laughed, cutting him off. She had promised him spin-o-ramas if they were eliminated from playoff contention, and although that obviously hadn't happened, it would undeniably be fun, and with Jeff with them, they could add a little fun to their practice.

"Fine," she said with a laugh, stepping back into the ice. "But Jeff is going to have to give me some pointers! I haven't done this in years!"

"Wait, what?" Jeff said, confused, as John laughed and cheered for his partner.

She picked up a red stone and settled in the hack, shifting slightly in her sliding position as she glanced at the other side of the ice, then looked around as she rotated slightly, and Jeff laughed with realization and stepped back onto the ice.

"Yes!" John exclaimed as Kaitlyn laughed and spun in a circle as she released the stone from her hand.

She paid attention to her weight control, putting on her best effort for Jeff, who had, after all, invented and perfected the trick shot, but rotated a bit too far and saw her stone start to overcurl early, so, in the spirit of mixed doubles, she jumped up and started to sweep, keeping the line straight as her rock ended up in the side of the eight-foot, just touching the tee line.

"Nice job!" Jeff told her with a high-five, and all three curlers on the ice laughed.

"Atta girl!" John said, patting her on the back. "Nice shot!"

For the rest of the practice, John eagerly perfected his spin-o-rama with his coach, the expert, and they got comfortable with their surroundings, getting a feel for the ice and being able to feel relaxed. They were at the Olympics to win, but in order to do that, they would have to get to know each other really well, and what better way to do that than to have fun?

Another one of their main focuses was to get out and see other events, spend time with their friends and family, and just enjoy the overall Olympic experience. When they had gone with their four-player teams in the past, they spent almost all of their time in their "bubble" and just with their teams. Kaitlyn's mom and brother, Kevin, as well as John's parents, Earle and Maureen, had flown over to be with them, and they wanted to be able to spend more time together.

All in all, though, they would do anything for that gold medal.

* * *

Their first match of the Games was early in the morning against Norway's team of Kristin Skaslien and Magnus Nedregotten, who had been to several world championships and won a bronze medal together. Preparing for the Olympics and actually playing in them were two very different experiences, and the Canadian duo were just finding their way in the first half of the match, giving up three points but scoring three points right back in the second and third ends. The game was very close despite Kaitlyn making more shots than her Norwegian opponent, but the Scandinavian pair broke through in the final three ends when John was struggling with overthinking their shots and second-guessing himself. Losing the first match of a tournament was never a good feeling, and he had to admit that it hurt.

During the media interviews afterward, John was already feeling bad about himself for second-guessing himself and his teammate, and Kaitlyn was pretty disappointed about a loss, especially when they had actually played so well. One reporter mentioned that it was the first time either of them had lost at the Olympics, and when they realized that it was true, it definitely wasn't a good feeling. They hadn't expected to go undefeated again, especially as such a new team against many mixed doubles pioneers. Still, it upset John, and Kaitlyn realized that she had to cheer her partner up.

It was her idea to spend their downtime with their families and each other, knowing that it would help him get his spirits up. She stayed positive, kept her energy up, and they didn't talk about their loss. She, and his parents, knew that it would upset him, and that he didn't really want to talk about it. That afternoon, Team Homan and Team Koe also arrived in the Athletes' Village, and all of the curlers had a lot of fun together. John had been friends with Rachel Homan for a long time, and Kaitlyn had been friends with her since they had competed in juniors, and despite being rivals, she wouldn't have had John as her Olympic partner if Rachel hadn't won in the team event. John also reunited with his former Olympic teammates, Ben Hebert and Marc Kennedy, and good friend, Brent Laing, and their presence really got him excited for their upcoming matches. Thousands of kilometres away from home, they were still one Canadian curling family.

That evening, the bus from the Athletes' Village to the Gangneung Curling Centre was delayed, and they got stuck in traffic, but the energy among the teams just got higher. It was a bit of a stressful experience, but they got to the arena just in time, all the teams scrambling to get ready for the second draw of the competition. Kaitlyn and John were looking for their first win, playing against the American team of Matt and Becca Hamilton. John, being well-known in the international curling community, was good friends with Matt, and Kaitlyn was friends with Becca, but they were all business when it came to competition. The Americans had already won their first match, and the Canadian partners were determined to make their country proud.

Both teams fought hard through the first half of the match, trading singles to stay tied by halftime. Although Kaitlyn hadn't been perfect, John was picking her up and Jeff kept them motivated before they returned to the ice. It was a bit of luck and a bit of skill as Matt made a few disastrous shots, setting up for Team Canada's three-point steal, a setback that the Americans would never come back from. Team Canada, always Olympic curling favourites, had picked up their first win, and with that, Kaitlyn's positivity continued to grow as she truly started to believe that they had a chance.

The next morning, they were feeling refreshed and ready to play against the Chinese team at the early hour of 8:30, feeling hopeful about victory. However, both teams were making mistakes early on, but with mistakes came chances for big scores, and with three points in the first end and an excellent double takeout from Kaitlyn to score four in the third end, the Canadians were feeling good with a 7-3 lead by halftime, and with a few more successful ends and another clutch shot from the talented 29-year-old, Kaitlyn secured the seventh end win, 10-4.

They had turned things around, starting out with a loss but following it up with two wins, and they were just getting started. They didn't have a lot of time before their afternoon draw, but Kaitlyn's boyfriend Stephan had just arrived after a stressful adventure from Norway, and his presence just boosted her confidence and doubled up her energy as they headed into their afternoon match against the so-far winless team from Finland.

With mistakes from each curler on the ice, the game stayed close for a while, but with Oona, the Finnish first and last stone thrower, struggling mightily, Kaitlyn and John had a two-point lead after four ends. It was in the sixth end that things started to get messy, but John battled through his middle stones and held a slight advantage with each shot. Every inch counted, and when Kaitlyn was in a position to score five points with the hammer, she delivered, leading to concession. Team Finland was still winless, but Team Canada had come back from an early loss and was now tied on top of the standings.

That night, the opening ceremony was taking place, and the Canadian curlers and their families gathered in the Canada House to celebrate with the rest of Team Canada. For Kaitlyn, it was a chance to catch up with her biggest supporters, her mom, her boyfriend, and her brother, Kevin.

"Great win, Kaitlyn!" Kevin congratulated her. "Stephan and I were really nervous at the beginning there."

"I know, I saw you up in the stands!" she replied with a laugh. "Why did mom keep running away from you?"

"These two boys are always so nervous!" Cheryl told her daughter. "I couldn't stand them tapping their feet and biting their fingernails. I had take frequent breaks from sitting next to them!"

Kaitlyn laughed, knowing exactly what nervous habits annoyed her mom the most. She was glad to hear that her brother and boyfriend were bonding over cheering for her, and she knew that she was going to keep playing her heart out for them. Her family was most important to her in PyeongChang, even with a gold medal on the line. All of the victories wouldn't be possible without them supporting her.

The Canadian spirit in the Canada House was unbelievable, and even with the night growing later and the exhaustion from all of the curling starting to kick in, Kaitlyn and John were feeling energized and ready to take on anything.

* * *

With the determination to take on anything, the next morning, "anything" meant the reigning world champions in mixed doubles curling. They were part of a three-way tie atop the standings, but one of either Team Canada or Team Switzerland would have to lose in the rematch of the world championship final. Jenny Perret and Martin Rios were facing a different Canadian duo, but Kaitlyn and John had the skills and drive to defeat the talented Swiss pair.

With a tough shot, Kaitlyn missed and gave up a steal of one in the first end, and John's repeated guard attempts in the following end kept on travelling and staying in the rings, but they proved to be helpful for scoring, and, lying three shots already, Kaitlyn secured a huge score of four points to make up for her previous mistakes. They held a comfortable 5-2 lead heading into the last four ends of the game, but Jenny Perret struggled terribly and the Swiss gave up steals, even with their power play, in the fifth and sixth ends, conceding then. It was a short but sweet victory for Team Canada, still tied atop the standings with the Olympic Athletes from Russia, whom they would play that evening.

Whichever team won would clinch a semifinal berth, so even spending time with their families, the pressure never fully eased off of the Canadians until they set foot on the ice that night. They knew what a great team their opponents were, having won the world championships in 2016, and Anastasia Bryzgalova, the only female playing the middle stones in the competition, was one of the best shooters that they had faced. However, John was an even sharper shooter and Kaitlyn had impeccable skills, so they were pretty confident in their ability to take down two teams of world champions in a row.

John threw three perfect shots in the first end, setting up for three points and an early lead, then further extending their lead with a steal of one in the following end. Things were tight in the four-foot in the fourth end, but with two points, Kaitlyn and John worked to hold a commanding five-point lead by halftime. They proved to be skilled at combatting the power play by holding their opponents to one point, then with a few double takeouts to score two points in the sixth end, Team Canada clinched a semifinal berth and completed their sweep of the world champion teams.

With each win, Kaitlyn and John were improving incredibly, to the point that they were no longer discussing shots much between throws. They had found that their strategy was so similar, their instinct almost always matched, that their communication had improved infinitely since the trials. John no longer had to second-guess himself because he knew that his partner was in agreement, and Kaitlyn's optimism was soaring with each shot. They made a great team, and even if it wasn't evident from the start, it surely was now.

Riding on a five-game win streak, they were hoping to keep the momentum going into playoffs. Their final round robin opponent was the home team of Korea, who had already been eliminated from playoff contention. Throughout the competition, the crowd had been full of Koreans who were learning about the game, cheering overwhelmingly for their team, and for once, the Canadian curling fans would be outnumbered.

John, having competed in the Vancouver Olympics, had never fully experienced the overwhelming feeling of having the entire crowd deafeningly cheering against him. Kaitlyn had competed in Sochi, and in their one match against Russia, the cheering had been so loud that their team had to resort to hand signals to communicate. However, with the two mixed doubles partners, they already got to know each other so well that they were able to communicate without words, and it would be a gift when they would not be able to communicate with words.

It was still a challenge, but it didn't faze them as the Canadians made excellent offensive shots to steal the first two ends. Much to the delight of the crowd, the Koreans came back with two points in the third, but with a crowded four-foot in the fourth, Team Canada took a two-point lead at halftime. They increased that lead to four points heading into the final end, and with a few mistakes from their opponents, they left no shot for the Koreans to score enough to catch up, and Kaitlyn and John picked up their sixth win in a row, heading into the semifinal.

That afternoon, they had some time off to regroup before the semifinal, where they would play against the winner of the tiebreaker, either Norway or China. They were confident in their abilities, having a significant statistical advantage over all of the teams that remained in the competition. John paid a lot of attention to shooting accuracy statistics, and since Sochi, so had Kaitlyn. They were well aware that each of them was curling 4% better than any of the other curlers in their respective positions, and as a team, they were curling 6% higher than any other team. However, Kaitlyn had struggled during high-pressure situations in the past, and she knew that, even after working with Kyle, who was there to support them with their mental performance, she would have to talk to her teammate before the playoffs.

"We made it!" John exclaimed as they sat down together in the unusually-quiet Canada House.

"Two more games to go," she reminded him. "We're not done here yet!"

"True that, partner," he replied. "That semi's going to be stressful, but we can do it. We're going to bring home that gold!"

Throughout the week, Kaitlyn's positivity had been infectious, and even in the toughest of times, she was able to cheer up her partner. He had picked up on her energy and his confidence had boosted them into the playoffs, but they both knew how much pressure was on them in the semifinal. The semifinal was anyone's game, and a win guaranteed a medal while a loss meant they might not even get on the podium. As Canadians, the pressure was enormous for them to win, and John took that very seriously. Kaitlyn knew that the one thing that made her partner feel the slightest bit of insecurity was the semifinal, and she couldn't blame him.

Ever since she was just a kid, she took competition very seriously, and she had always been hew own toughest critic. Even in Sochi, she was known to be very emotional, getting frustrated about her misses, holding back tears and taking her anger out on her broom, a stark contrast to her always calm and unfazed skip, who never really let her emotions out on the ice. In four years, she had grown tremendously, and in PyeongChang, she was the one on display. With only four players on the ice and everyone being equal, everyone's eyes were on her. Instead of feeling frustrated about mistakes, like John sometimes was, or getting in her own head, she was always in a relaxed state of calm. Unlike Jennifer, she wasn't concealing her emotions, she was just mastering them.

Staying calm was just one of the things she had mastered leading up to her second Olympic Games. Since juniors, she had learned how to get over losses. She learned to accept defeat and use it to motivate her. She had experienced plenty of tough losses, but they just made her stronger. For nearly eight years, she had been learning from Jennifer, and although she had thought that Sochi would be the peak of her career, she soon learned that she was wrong. Their success - and her struggles - had made her a better curler, physically, but also mentally. She won her first Scotties, learned to appreciate her silver medal from worlds, and although she had been happy, she was even happier to be returning to worlds and go for the gold medal. Now, though, she was at her second Olympics, and it was hard to believe she hadn't even been out of juniors nine years before. In fact, it had been her juniors teammate, Breanne, who had predicted her rise to the 2018 Winter Olympic Games. No one would have thought it would be in mixed doubles, but she had learned to love the discipline.

And now, she was two games away from winning her second Olympic gold.

* * *

The next morning, they arrived in the arena, ready to face the most important mixed doubles match either of them had ever faced. In addition to the pressure of the potential of guaranteeing a medal, they had to play against Norway, the only team that had defeated them in the round robin. As a duo, Kaitlyn and John had improved tremendously in just a few days since then, but it still made them a bit uneasy. As they stepped on the ice, Kaitlyn took a few deep breaths to calm her nerves, and they practiced their slides before getting ready to play.

Right from the start, the Canadians began to dominate when John made one of his signature double takeouts to lie three shots, marvelling at how fast his partner was as she ran down the ice to sweep. However, with a chance to draw to score three, Kaitlyn couldn't find her draw weight and her stone went right through the house. She frowned, upset at her struggling start, but earned a high-five from her partner as they had already scored two points.

Her struggles continued as her first stone didn't make it to the rings, instead sitting in front as a guard. John continued to make great shots, saving them from any trouble, but Kaitlyn's last stone drew too far to the back of the four-foot. They lay three shots, but left a handy pocket for Kristin to score one point for Team Norway on what would otherwise have been a difficult shot. Kaitlyn continued to scold herself for her mistakes when she missed a difficult in-off for her hammer shot in the following end, giving up a steal of one for their opponents to tie the game. She wasn't feeling great. Whether a mistake was on a difficult shot or an easy one, it was still a mistake, and she just wasn't feeling like her usual self.

In the fourth end, she didn't get any better, overcurling her first shot, and even though it wasn't terrible, she took out her frustration on her sweeping as she chased John's first stone down the ice, freeing up a few frozen stones to set them up for scoring. Magnus did a good job of preserving his team's stones in the house, but John's last stone saved them by removing one Norwegian stone from the house and tapping two others out of the four-foot, setting up for a good chance to score a few points. When it came to Kaitlyn's final stone, they already had shot stone, but she had a simple draw to score two points.

 _I won't be heavy this time,_  she told herself, reminding herself of how she had missed a chance to score extra points in the first end.

Indeed, her stone wasn't heavy this time, but it started to slow down early, and both she and her partner jumped on the sweeping, dragging it as far as they could, but it stopped just short of scoring position, once again costing them extra points. She slammed her broom on the ice, showing her frustration for the first time in PyeongChang, as they could only score a single point.

In the past, they hadn't really needed the halftime break to regroup, but this time, Kaitlyn desperately did. She had been curling just 41% through her first eight shots in the first half, feeling awful about herself. John patted her on the back to comfort her as they walked over to Jeff and Paul, who started talking to them.

"Nice job, team," Jeff said to the duo. "Kaitlyn, I know you're feeling pretty bad about yourself, but remember, you still have the lead. It's 3-2, it's close but you're ahead. They're fixing up the ice right now; it'll probably be better in the second half."

"Yeah, we have eight ends, and if we need them, we'll use all eight." John reminded her. "We can do this, partner!"

The whole week, it had been Kaitlyn who was cheering up her partner when he was feeling down, and when she really needed it, he was there for her, too. Her team was right. They were in the lead, and they still had four more ends to win. She could, and would, get better.

Right before the fifth end started, she headed back onto the ice, determined to figure out what was wrong. She remembered her struggles in the gold medal match in Sochi. Her rocks had been curling much more than she expected, so, thinking it was a similar situation, she switched out her rocks for ones that she knew would be better. She knew she had to sharpen her own release, too, and kept that in mind as the match resumed and all eyes were on her again.

Facing fresh ice, she released her first stone of the fifth end with determination, but it came up very light, and she was definitely upset. However, her opponents' first two shots were very heavy as they kept travelling down the ice, and when John's second stone also travelled too far, she knew it wasn't all her fault. She finally started to find her rhythm when she used her last stone to make a tap to lie two shots, and when Kristin couldn't do anything about it, it was a steal of two for Team Canada, and they suddenly had a three-point lead in what seemed to be a very close match. It was true, everything could change in a single end in mixed doubles.

In the sixth end, Norway used their power play, but Kaitlyn and John had figured out just how to counter the offensive advantage, and after John's second shot, it was the Canadians who had three shot stones spread out around the rings. However, with a missed double takeout, Kaitlyn was facing two Norwegian shot stones, and it was her turn to make a double takeout. She released the rock from her hand with a heavy weight, jumping up and trying to chase the stone as it flew down the ice, but couldn't make the shot, eventually giving up two points to their opponents, which wasn't bad at all for a power play. They still had a one-point lead and hammer.

In the seventh end, John took control once again and made some great shots. As a result, they already had two shot stones before Kaitlyn's hammer shot, and this time, she was determined to make the extra points count. She had to make a precise hit to score three, and jumped on the sweeping immediately, putting all of her strength into her broom and running down the ice quicker than anyone John had ever seen.

"Yeah!" John exclaimed for the whole crowd to hear, as the shooter made contact with the stone in the house, scoring three points.

Both Canadians raised their brooms and shared a high-five, well in control with a commanding four-point lead with only one end left. The crowd full of their fans roared in delight, and as they got ready for the final end, John high-fived his partner, proud of her for being able to turn things around. Kaitlyn was really in control now.

In the final end, Kristin's first stone was a miss, already setting Team Norway into a position of hopelessness. It was practically already over, and they all knew it, but it still took John's last stone to get their opponents to concede, after the house was too crowded with Canadian stones to have any chance of scoring much, or at all. Kristin and Magnus shook hands with the victorious Canadians, who hugged, celebrating their victory and guaranteed medal.

Walking along the ice and raising their brooms to the crowd, Kaitlyn and John both felt an enormous pressure lifted off their shoulders. They had done it, they had made it to the gold medal match. There was so much pressure from the whole world for them, as Canadian curlers, to do well, and in mixed doubles, a relatively new discipline to them, they had no idea how they would do, but they had excelled. Kaitlyn looked up at her and John's friends and family in the stands, seeing Stephan and Kevin holding a cardboard cutout of her head. She high-fived her partner again and John saw his dad hug Kaitlyn's boyfriend and brother in celebration.

They were all feeling elated, but also relieved. Norway had been the one team that had stressed them out just a little bit, and getting the win to advance to the gold medal match relaxed them more than anything. They couldn't completely relax, though. A gold medal was on the line, and they were determined to get it.

That afternoon, they were flooded with congratulations from their families, friends, coaches, and other Canadian athletes. However, there was one athlete that Kaitlyn was still waiting to see, and she stood impatiently outside of the Canada House, where John was inside with the curlers from the men's and women's teams. Suddenly, Kaitlyn heard footsteps behind her, and saw her teammate with Brent running up to her.

"Hey, Kaitlyn!" Brent called as he ran up to her.

She turned to face her friend on Team Kevin Koe and he congratulated her on her win, so neither of them saw as John looked into the distance, where a certain blonde was running up to them.

"Kaitlyn! Brent!" he called, unnecessarily loudly for how close he was standing to them.

The two other curlers turned at the sound of his voice and saw as one of their biggest supporters ran up to them in a group hug.

"Jen!" they all exclaimed, greeting the world-class skip who, for a few weeks, had just become a fan.

"It's so nice to see you all!" Jennifer said to them. "Kaitlyn! I'm so proud of you! And John, I'm so proud of you, too! You two have been just amazing this week. You've just completely dominated!"

"Mighty Mouse has been killer, hasn't she," John said with a laugh.

Jennifer tilted her head in confusion and Kaitlyn and Brent both just laughed at her reaction.

"John likes to call me Mighty Mouse," Kaitlyn explained.

"It's because she's tiny, but she's super strong!" her partner added, "She's the fiercest sweeper I ever knew. Who would've thought?"

"I see," Jennifer said with a laugh. "Kaitlyn, taking out your frustration on the ice, I guess."

"You know me too well," Kaitlyn replied, "I didn't think anyone would know, but if anyone would, it's you."

"I'm a lawyer, remember?" Jennifer reminded her jokingly. "I know exactly what you're thinking. You're not getting as upset anymore, but you're not kidding me when you pretend it doesn't bother you when you miss. And that's okay, because if it didn't bother you, you wouldn't bother to try harder not to miss."

"It's true," she admitted, "but I'm really going to try to avoid another disaster like today."

"Hey, don't worry about it," John chimed in, "the important thing is that we won, and you came back from that first half. I have faith in you."

"So do I," Jennifer and Brent agreed at the same time.

"Thanks for the support, guys," Kaitlyn said, hugging her friends. "I can't wait for tomorrow."

"Go bring home that gold!" Brent said to his Team Canada teammates. "We believe in you!"

The four curlers shared high-fives and more hugs, and Kaitlyn and John felt so grateful to have a huge team supporting them. Team Canada was ready to go, and the two-time Olympians were ready to become two-time Olympic gold medallists.

* * *

The energy in the arena the following night was through the roof, but Kaitlyn remained calm as she prepared herself to take on the reigning world champions, Team Switzerland. She and John had absolutely destroyed them in the round robin, but Jenny Perret was coming back stronger and they knew she wouldn't be making the same mistakes. Both teams were determined to do anything and everything for the win.

Team Canada started off with a bang, and John set up perfectly between Martin Rios' misses, starting with a perfect draw to the button as the crowd cheered, "Go Canada!" Kaitlyn didn't even have to throw her last shot to score two points, and she didn't have a shot to score more, so she threw it right through and got the two points for an early lead.

In the second end, John had to use his last stone to make a double takeout, and the nickname "Mighty Mouse" stood true as Kaitlyn swept it frantically down the ice, watching two of their opponents' stones go flying as a third one moved, too. She smiled widely at her partner on the other side of the ice and let out a laugh, of happiness and relief. She was feeling relaxed and in control, a complete contrast to how she had felt at the start of her gold medal match in Sochi.

However, Martin made up for his previous struggles by making a double takeout to get one of his stones frozen right on top of two others, forming a triangle where only a maximum of two of those stones could be removed. Kaitlyn tried for the double takeout, but didn't get the angle right and only removed one. Now, Jenny had a chance to score three points with her hammer shot.

"Oh well," John said, unfazed. "If they get three, they get three."

"Yep," Kaitlyn replied.

Similar conversations had taken place between her and her skip, who was sitting up in the stands cheering for her, in the Olympic final four years ago, but it was different this time. In Sochi, Jennifer had been consoling her overwhelmed third, who just couldn't accept her mistakes and what they could cost her team. Now, Kaitlyn was just determined to come back from her mistakes, no matter what. If it cost her three points, she wouldn't do it again. John wouldn't blame her for anything, and neither would any of her other teammates, but following her semifinal struggles, Kaitlyn realized that she just couldn't blame herself.

They avoided the worst-case scenario, though, as Switzerland only scored two points on an overcurled hit. The score was tied again, but the advantage was still Canada's as Martin continued his disastrous streak by moving his own shot stone to allow Canada's stone to lie in scoring position, giving John a hit-and-roll to get into an even better position.

"Hard, Kaitlyn!" he screamed as his speedy teammate swept and ran as fast as she could on the ice. "Hard, Kaitlyn!"

Upon watching the stone make contact and roll, Kaitlyn let out a huge smile, before turning to look at the house again and realizing that the shooter had rolled too far and left a pocket. It wasn't perfect, but it was still pretty good. It was even better when Martin completely missed his last shot, allowing John to improve their offence to five shot stones. Even with a double takeout, Jenny couldn't fix the situation completely, and Kaitlyn eagerly got into the hack, ready to make the come-around tapback to score four points.

She was ready to keep her momentum going, but was stopped when she realized that her stone's handle was loose, and they had to pause for a technical timeout. She had been broken out of her "bubble" temporarily with the break, but she was able to refocus as she gathered herself and release the stone from her hand and start to follow it down the ice.

"Needs to curl!" John called to her, and she switched her direction to sweep a bit more.

The stone entered the house, tapping the yellow Swiss stone back slowly, and John jumped on the sweeping behind the tee line immediately, much to the delight of his partner, who had repeatedly reminded him to sweep earlier.

"Hard, hard, hard!" Kaitlyn screamed as the crowd roared behind her. "Go!"

She watched her partner as he successfully swept the yellow stone far enough back to score four points, and she raised her broom and congratulated him with a high five, taking a commanding four-point lead. However, no lead was ever safe in mixed doubles, especially when their opponents chose to use their power play.

Not willing to risk giving up a big score, John led the charge to eliminate many of the stones gathering in the house, and Martin missed a double takeout, leaving Team Switzerland with only one stone in the house, which, with a successful come-around tapback, Kaitlyn eliminated, forcing them only to one point.

They were feeling great at halftime, having just successfully countered a power play and taken a commanding three-point lead over the reigning world champions. Jeff and Paul didn't have to do anything for them, except for congratulate them on a successful first half and wish them luck with maintaining it. In four ends, they could be two-time Olympic champions.

In the fifth end, Martin Rios' struggles continued, but Team Canada wasn't without mistakes, either. John's second stone started to curl early, and he had to sweep it more than he wanted to.

"Hard, hard, hard!" Kaitlyn called, but his efforts weren't enough.

"Ah, shoot," he sighed, but he was quickly able to pick himself back up, as they were still in a great position.

After his final stone, John left them with a great opportunity to increase their lead, sitting two shots frozen on the button, and even when Kaitlyn's last difficult shot for three points came up just short, they still scored those two points to take a five-point lead over their opponents.

Feeling confident about their team, the Canadian fans cheered, "Go Canada go! Go Canada go!" The Swiss team, already losing hope, was looking pretty desperate, while Kaitlyn's confidence soared and John's energy could not be stopped.

However, no lead was ever safe, and after Kaitlyn made a mistake by ticking the pre-positioned guard, their opponents tried to pick things back up. After Martin's first shot, Switzerland had three shot stones, and he started to look like his world champion self with a difficult tap through a port to lie four shots. John was the one to save his team with a draw to lie shot stone, and Martin once again made things worse for his team by tapping Canada's shot stone further buried, making it impossible to move. With a nice shot by Kaitlyn, the reigning world champions would try anything to get back into the game.

Sometimes, the pressure could get to a team if they were down by several points, without much time left to catch up, and that's what happened to Jenny Perret. Desperate for anything, she attempted a shot that probably wasn't even there, and gave up a steal of two points. Team Canada held a 10-3 lead over the struggling Swiss, ready to dethrone the world champions.

They didn't even have to use their final two ends, as Jenny and Martin decided to concede the gold medal match, both teams shaking hands as the crowd screamed for Team Canada. Kaitlyn hugged Jenny, a sign of friendship and congratulations, before throwing her broom off to the side, just as her skip had done four years ago. She joined her partner, and the two-time Olympic gold medallists pumped their fists in the air in victory.

"Yeah!" John exclaimed, drawling it out for everyone to hear.

With a double high-five, both of them were in disbelief. It had all happened so quickly, but somehow, against all odds, Kaitlyn Lawes and John Morris were two-time Olympic gold medallists for Team Canada in curling.

John lifted his partner up high off the ground in celebration as they waved to the crowd, then put her down to hug her.

"We did it!" Kaitlyn exclaimed, then blew a kiss to her family, high up in the stands.

She laughed in pure elation and disbelief, taking a few deep breaths before the victorious partners joined their coaches for hugs. Jeff had never been an Olympian himself, but to coach the first Canadian mixed doubles team to gold was an incredible experience for him, and Kaitlyn and John would always be grateful for his support. Without their support team, there was no way they would have succeeded.

After celebrations on the ice, there was one person that Kaitlyn was dying to see, and she ran up into the stands, through the celebrating crowd, to find her boyfriend, Stephan. She hugged him tightly and thanked him for supporting her the whole time through the year leading up to this success. He had made countless sacrifices, caused a lot of stress for himself, and done everything in the world just to see her play at the Olympics, and that made victory so much sweeter.

Only a few minutes later, the medallists were back in the arena for the venue ceremony. Donning their parkas, toques, and mitts, the proud Canadians jumped up onto the highest step of the podium and waved to the crowd before receiving their teddy bears, mascots of the Games. Kaitlyn held hers up to the crowd and looked at the bear happily. She always loved Olympic mascots, especially the bears. Her friends teased her for it, but she liked feeling like a kid again. She hugged her partner before the silver and bronze medallists joined them on the top step of the podium for pictures, congratulating each other on their success.

It was Kaitlyn and John who had achieved the ultimate success, and as the other pairs returned to their steps of the podium, they held up the Canadian flag, with a gold maple leaf to signify their win. Kaitlyn looked up to the crowd, where her mom proudly waved her own flag.

She thought of her father again, and she knew how proud her would be of her. He had passed away just before she had started to succeed in juniors, and he had never known just how much success she would have in the passion that he had instilled in her, but she knew he had always believed in her. Every game she had ever played was for him, and now she had won two Olympic gold medals.

As the first Olympic mixed doubles curling champions, and first Canadian Olympic mixed doubles team, let alone the first to win two gold medals, they had made history again. Kaitlyn also became the first Canadian curler to win two gold medals in consecutive Games, and also the youngest two-time Olympic gold medallist in curling, ever. John became the first man to win two Olympic curling gold medals. It was special for both of them, but none of it mattered except that they made Team Canada proud. In the end, that was all they wanted to do.

* * *

The next day, the shock had settled and they were just on top of the world. When they walked out onto the stage for the medal ceremony, they were flooded with a sense of déjà vu. Four years ago, Kaitlyn had been overcome with emotion on the top step of the podium, and she was once again close to tears as the announcement of Team Canada as the gold medallists.

Nothing could prepare her for the moment that the medal went around her neck, completely speechless and in disbelief as she became the youngest curler ever to wear her second Olympic gold medal. She watched proudly as her partner became the first male curler ever to wear his second Olympic gold, and he looked at her proudly. They had truly earned it. They had owned their mistakes and supported each other, but it was never just one of them carrying the team. They felt more like a team than ever as they removed their toques for the national anthem, Kaitlyn adjusting her hair and taking a deep breath to steady herself.

As soon as the anthem started to play, John, for the first time, started to feel tears welling in his eyes, and took a few deep breaths before singing. They proudly watched their flag rise up, just like they had.

As they finished singing the final line, "O Canada, we stand on guard for thee," they held up their medals in the air, acknowledging everyone who had contributed to their success. They were two Canadians standing on the top step of the podium for the second time, but none of it would have been possible without the support of their friends, family, coaches, and teammates.

History had been made. Kaitlyn Lawes and John Morris had perhaps become the most accomplished curlers ever to live, and they weren't done yet. What had started as a short-term partnership had become a team that could last for years, and whether or not they would make it to another Olympic Games, they knew they would go on to keep proudly representing Canada.

For Kaitlyn, her professional career hadn't even lasted for nine years, and she had many years ahead of her. She had broken records, exceeded all expectations, defied all odds, and made history, and she was going to do it again.

For the rest of her life, Kaitlyn Lawes would be making history.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A nine-year journey summarized in nine chapters. Nothing can adequately honour Kaitlyn Lawes for everything she's done and what I'm sure she will continue to accomplish, but I wanted to try to put my own spin on it. Now this tribute is out here, it actually hasn't got zero hits. However many people read this doesn't matter to me, but I can proudly say there is now Curling RPF about the successes of just a few Canadian curlers. There will be an epilogue, but I've loved writing about this journey over an incredible career:)


	10. The End of an Era

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After eight years all together, Jennifer, Jill, Dawn, and Kaitlyn had become like family. Jennifer and Jill had been teammates for twenty-eight years, and at the 2018 World Women's Curling Championship, it was the end of an era.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the epilogue, not so Kaitlyn-centric but more just about the whole team, especially Jill. I thought this would just be a nice tribute to her, as she's stepping back from competitive curling and she's really had a history-making career.

After a record-tying six Scotties wins for Jennifer and Jill, Team Jones headed to worlds for the second time since their record-breaking Olympic run, this time with a bit of a different sentiment in North Bay. Jill had decided to step back from professional curling after the season, and it would be emotional for the whole team. Jennifer and Jill had been teammates for decades, and the introverted, composed skip and her extroverted, fun-loving, empathetic teammate and best friend had been on top of the curling world for as long as anyone could remember. The team wouldn't be the same without her, that was for sure.

Over the years, they had always put their trust in the younger generations of curlers, first by taking in Kaitlyn when she was barely out of juniors, and they had succeeded tremendously, though not without challenges, but it just made them all stronger. Then, when Kaitlyn made it to her history-making second Olympic Games, they had chosen Shannon Birchard, who hadn't even been born five years after Jennifer and Jill's first shot as a team, as her replacement, and Shannon was with them in North Bay as their alternate for the world championships. And now, Jill had made the decision to step away from the team, and they would be putting their trust in the young but accomplished Jocelyn Peterman to play at second.

For now, it was all about Jill, and the day before their first match in the championship, the whole team, including Shannon, decided to discuss their approach going into one of the most emotionally important tournaments they would ever play in.

"Well, here we are, this is exciting!" Jennifer addressed her teammates. "Let's take it one game at a time, and win or lose, let's have fun."

They knew how important it was to win, just like in any other tournament, but they also knew that unlike any other tournament, having fun was perhaps really more important. It was their last time playing on the world stage with Jill on the team, and they wanted it to be an experience to remember. Of course, winning would ultimately be the greatest reward of all, but no matter what happened, it would be memorable.

No one specifically mentioned that it would be Jill's last international tournament with them. They all knew it, and they had accepted it, but they knew that she wouldn't want them to make a big deal out of it. So they didn't. Instead, Jennifer decided to treat it like any other competition, at least, she would act like it was any other competition.

"And let's try to get Shannon a few chances to throw, too," Kaitlyn suggested, acknowledging her new friend's contributions to the team.

"That's right, you deserve it, Shannon!" Jill agreed enthusiastically. "We'll make sure you get to throw a few stones. Maybe play a whole game or two."

"No, no, you don't have to do that!" the young curler replied quickly. "Really, I had a great time at the Scotties, and I'm just here as your alternate. You girls are the ones who deserve it."

"Shannon, we wouldn't be here without you." Jennifer said, "You definitely deserve to play a whole game, and I'm sure we can find some time for you to sub in for one of us in a few ends here or there."

"I'm sure either Jill or I could use a break some day from all the sweeping," Dawn added.

"And I owe it to you," Kaitlyn said. "You and I are on the same page, we've each won a Scotties, no more, no less. You worked to get me here, and it's my second worlds, but it's just as much yours as it is mine."

"Aw, thanks, girls!" Shannon thanked her teammates for their kindness. "That would mean a lot to me. I really don't want to pressure you into giving me a chance to play, but if you really need a break, you know I'd be happy to play."

"Okay, let's do this!" Kaitlyn said enthusiastically. "We're taking on the world!"

They all laughed as the five teammates shared a group hug, ready to savour their final championship with their longtime second in front of a home crowd. They were confident, they were excited, and the emotions were running high as they got ready for the week ahead of them.

* * *

Their first match was against the Czech team skipped by Anna Kubeskova. Their opponents were strong, but they were stronger, and with two four-point ends in the first half, Team Canada was well in control with a 10-4 lead at halftime. The four teammates shared high-fives as they walked off the ice for their break, meeting up with Shannon and their coach, Wendy.

"Nice job, girls," Wendy congratulated them. "Let's keep it going!"

Kaitlyn received a high five from Shannon before holding out her broom to her.

"Hey," the experienced third said, "How about making your world championship debut?"

"Really?" Shannon said, surprised, as she received the broom. "That's awesome- thank you!"

"I owe it to you," Kaitlyn replied with a smile. "You deserve it."

Jennifer patted her third on the back before returning to the ice with her new third for the second half of the match. They were well in control, with a six-point lead, and playing defensively would be key.

Kaitlyn watched proudly as her team played in the sixth end, before watching Shannon wipe out on her first delivery of the championships. The original third's broom caught on the ice, causing the young alternate to fall before releasing her stone. Despite the unfortunate start to her world championship career, Shannon proved herself to be a promising curler with a bright future with a few great shots in the next end, and only had to throw four rocks in two ends before their opponents conceded. Team Canada had picked up their first win, in seven ends, 11-5.

After her team walked off the ice, Kaitlyn congratulated them on their win, then turned to face Jill.

"Hey, guess what?" she said happily.

"What?" her four teammates said at the same time.

"Guess who threw a perfect game?" Kaitlyn asked, smiling.

"Shannon?" Jennifer guessed.

"Dawn?" Jill suggested. "Wait, or you?"

It was only Shannon, whose inquisitive sense had led her to watch the throwing statistics intently through the first half, providing them with the correct answer.

"It was Jill, right?"

Kaitlyn smiled and high-fived her observant friend. "Yep!"

"That's awesome!" Jennifer exclaimed, hugging her longtime second and best friend. "Congrats, Jill!"

Her teammates hugged her to congratulate her on the impressive achievement. It was a great way to start off her final world championship, and just another moment to remember for years to come.

* * *

For the next few days, Team Jones represented Canada stunningly. In their game against Switzerland, everything went well except for one shot, when Kaitlyn slammed her broom into Dawn while they swept one of Jill's rock, causing the lead to wipe out. She was okay, though, and Kaitlyn suffered the endless teasing. They went on to make a breakthrough in the second half and win their second game of the world championships.

A six-end win against Germany, a two-point steal to secure a 9-5 win against China, an eight-end win, a ten-end struggle to prevail over Scotland, a nine-end win over the Olympic silver medallists from South Korea, an eight-end win against the reigning Olympic champions from Sweden, and a close win against Russia kept the Canadians undefeated through the majority of their round robin matches, with three more to go.

The four teammates were feeling great, albeit more than a little tired. They continued their dominance against Italy, when, at halftime, they were well in control with a five-point lead. Shannon got her second chance playing in the world championships when Jill handed her broom over, the legend passing the torch to the next generation of great Canadian curlers. They went on to win, 14-6, in just eight ends.

The next morning, the team woke up bright and early and got together before getting ready for their match against Team Japan. The five curlers were feeling confident, having qualified for playoffs already, but they knew that continuing to win would be important to clinch a spot in the semifinal, skipping the qualification round of six.

"How's everyone feeling?" Jennifer asked her teammates. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah," Kaitlyn replied, and Dawn nodded.

"Well, you girls know how I've been having some blister problems," Jill told her teammates. "I'm okay, but I was thinking that we should give Shannon a full game to play."

"For sure, take the morning off," the skip told her longtime second. "Shannon, you ready?"

"You bet!" she replied, beaming. "Let's go get this win, and hopefully Jill can be back tonight!"

The five teammates shared high-fives before Jennifer, Kaitlyn, Dawn, and Shannon headed out to the North Bay Memorial Gardens, wishing Jill a quick recovery and good rest.

All four Canadians played at their best, and all of them were impressive, especially Shannon, who made up for her wipeout in their first match by making a brilliant triple-raise takeout. Despite giving up steals in the eighth and ninth ends, Tori Koana and her Japanese team conceded early to the Canadians, who had played a spectacular first half.

That night, Jill was back on the ice as Team Canada faced their American rivals skipped by the Canadian Jamie Sinclair. A win for Team USA would mean possible semifinal qualification, while a Canadian win would mean nothing for their playoffs. However, a win was still incredibly important. Firstly, they wanted to prove once again that Team Canada was still dominant over their southern neighbours, something that everyone knew but they wanted to maintain. Jamie Sinclair, having grown up and started her career in Ontario with Rachel Homan's team, had many ties to Canadian curling, but had ultimately chosen to represent Team USA. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, a Team Canada win would extend the country's world championship win streak to 25 games, starting with Team Homan's undefeated run the previous year.

With incredible shots from all four members of the team, but especially Jennifer, and a few mistakes from the Americans, a victory for Team Canada propelled them forward to the playoffs on a 25-game undefeated run over two years.

The next morning, getting ready for playoffs, all five members of the team were feeling mixed emotions. On one hand, they were incredibly excited, being two games away from finally winning a world championship title at home. For Jennifer and Dawn, it had been exactly ten years since they had been world champions, and they wanted nothing more than to be the second team ever to go undefeated at worlds, keeping the streak in Canada. Jill was feeling the same way, but it also meant a bit more to her. This was her last chance to play at worlds with the team that she had been with for so many years, and a world championship title meant the world to her.

Kaitlyn was a two-time Olympic champion, but she had yet to win at the world championships, and although she still had a long career ahead of her, she wanted nothing more than to be a world champions with the team that had so welcomingly taken her in and made her the curler she was. Most of all, she wanted to do it with Jill, who had truly had the biggest impact on her.

The whole team felt that way, really. They were going to win for Jill. It wasn't about the win streak, or the trophy, but it was about their teammate who had been there from the start. They had two more games left as a team, and they would do everything they could to win.

That night, before entering the arena to face Team USA again, the four teammates shared a group hug before Shannon wished them good luck. No matter what happened, they would play their best and enjoy every second of the experience, and they all knew it. Of course, they wanted to win, and they would do everything in their control to get to the final, but this would be their second-last game with Jill on the world stage.

Jamie Sinclair put up her best fight, but it was Team Canada who was in control the whole time. For the second consecutive year, Team Canada was back in the final of the world championships, going undefeated through the entire competition. It had been a decade since Jennifer, Dawn, and Jill had been world champions, and three unsuccessful world championship appearances later, they were back, and stronger than ever.

Nothing ever came easy in the world championships, though, and the 2014 Olympic gold medallists were facing the new Olympic champions, the young Swedish team skipped by Anna Hasselborg.

It was defensive play by both teams, blanking the first three ends, until Jennifer found her team an opportunity to score two points in the fourth. However, the young Olympic champions had won gold in PyeongChang for a reason, and a few rare mistakes from Team Canada led to three points for Sweden, giving them a one-point advantage at halftime.

Five ends left to play on the world stage with Jill, and the reality of it was finally starting to hit them. Jennifer, Kaitlyn, and Dawn were determined to make the best of the time they had left together, and walked back onto the ice with a new sense of motivation, as if a world championship title wasn't enough. The titles were great, but their friendship was the most important.

In the sixth end, however, Anna and her team dominated, and scoring with hammer seemed difficult for Team Canada. Making ridiculous shots in mixed doubles seemed to pay off, though, and Kaitlyn saved her team with a triple raise takeout, allowing them to eventually score the two points that they needed to get ahead. They continued to dominate, forcing their opponents to a single point in the seventh end, and the score was tied.

After a blank end, the Swedish team once again played well, while Jennifer really needed to score at least two points to take the lead going into the tenth end. Their chances were looking slim, but it was with a clutch hammer shot that the record-tying six-time Scotties champion scored the game-changing deuce to keep her world championship hopes well alive, ahead by two points going into the tenth end.

With a good setup from the Canadians, victory seemed imminent. However, from what seemed to be out of nowhere, Anna changed the course of the end completely with two great shots, scoring two points and taking the game into extra ends.

While the Swedish front end tried to set up several guards for a steal attempt, the Canadians chose to get into scoring position early. With Jill's final stone, the crowd cheered and the whole team started to feel emotional. However, they kept their focus on the game, and were in good position, until Jennifer's first stone didn't even pass the hog line. Now, Anna had a chance to make a shot to make it very difficult for Team Canada to score. Jennifer and Kaitlyn began to discuss what shot they could make with the final stone and win. They weren't thinking about the world championship title, they weren't even thinking about Jill. They were just thinking about how they could score.

As Anna released her stone, Jill looked away while the other seven curlers on the ice watched intently, so she only heard the crowd erupt and her team exclaim in disbelief as the Swedish stone flew just past its target. Almost immediately, the two teams shook hands, and the Canadians had won. Jennifer pumped her fists in the air as the home crowd roared.

It had been ten years, but the skip and her front end teammates had finally won a second world championship title. Jennifer hugged Kaitlyn tightly, the first-time world champion feeling herself being lifted off the ground by her incredible skip. Then, Jennifer turned to Dawn and hugged her, before Jill slid down to them from the other side of the ice. Immediately, her three teammates embraced her in a tight group hug, the moment bittersweet for all of them. They were happy, they had just become world champions! But they were crying more than tears of joy, because their time as a team together on the world stage had finally come to a close.

"I love you girls," Jill said to her teammates before they separated from their hug and waved to the crowd.

Almost immediately, Jennifer hugged her best friend again. She could hardly remember a time without Jill playing at second, and the two teammates had become friends and like sisters. Jill had been a defining part of the team since they were just teenagers, and her kind spirit and unwavering positivity had undoubtedly pushed her team to greater heights than they could ever have achieved without her.

Only a few minutes later, the world champions, with Shannon and Wendy, stood proudly on top of the podium. Shannon and Dawn received their medals, then it was Jill who proudly wore her gold medal. Her teammates clapped proudly for her and the whole crowd stood up and applauded her with a standing ovation, congratulating her on an incredible career topped off with a second world championship title. On top of it all, she had also won one of the most prestigious awards at worlds, the Frances Brodie Sportsmanship Award, her teammates and opponents all thanking her for her skill, but more importantly, her friendship over the years.

Next, Kaitlyn received her gold medal. In less than eight years, she had gone from being the young, inexperienced third of Jennifer Jones' team, to one of the most decorated, history-making curlers ever to play in the sport, capping off her eighth year with the team as a world champion.

After Jennifer received her gold medal, they were presented with the world championship trophy, holding it up proudly. The whole team was thinking of Jill, and the trophy was just a reminder of her spectacular career and the impact she had on them.

For Kaitlyn, the trophy also represented the elusive title of world champion that she had never attained, even after two Canadian junior titles, two world junior medals, a Scotties title, two Olympic titles, and countless other accomplishments. In her twenty-nine years of life, she had never been a world champion, until this day.

She had finally won it all. Within nine years, she had won the Canadian juniors, the Olympics, the Scotties, and now worlds. Her journey to collecting every trophy and every medal was complete, but just like her teammates, she still wasn't done making history. Kaitlyn Lawes was still rising, and Jill Officer was stepping back as a legend.

It was the end of an era, but a new one was about to begin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kaitlyn Lawes will always be a history maker and I'm glad I got to honour that, at least a little. Bring on the next quadrennial!


End file.
